Judging by the traffic I encountered along the Maroondah Hwy yesterday just before lunchtime, I’d go so far to say about half of Melbourne had been on Mount Buller all weekend.
I had been simply enjoying a relaxing long weekend away with family in the surrounding countryside. On the way home we’d managed to find ourselves in an endless procession of cars, trucks and caravans. The amount of people in a real hurry to get home was quite astounding.
Overtaking lanes became drag strips. And to be honest I’ve never seen a 4WD filled with gear and children, towing a boat, do 160kph, until yesterday.
I couldn’t figure out at 11:30am why people we’re so desperate to get home. It had crossed my mind that perhaps the next instalment of The Voice was high on the list, maybe even in a desperate attempt to see what was happening in world markets.
But it was a long weekend; the rush was probably just due to the fact people tend to drive like idiots on long weekends.
But idiocy on the roads aside, it’s fortunate that we get to celebrate the birthday of a Queen who really has nothing to do with our country. Her family did send convicts over to our shores a couple hundred years ago, and since then things have been looking up for Australia.
What that also means is a day off for the Aussie markets. No doom, no gloom, no talk of recession or bad data flowing from the institutions that create data.
And while most are away on a long weekend or simply just watching another game of footy on a Monday the rest of the world continues to go on, business as usual.
Well, I say business as usual, but in all reality it was a remarkably boring day around the world. The best thing to come out of the US was the final episode of Game of Thrones. Sadly that could have also been the reason Time Warner [NYSE:TWX] (which owns HBO, who screen Game of Thrones) was down a touch over 1.8%.
But there was some data from the major economies of the world. Albeit soft data from both the US and China. It meant a pretty lack lustre day for markets. In the US the Dow was down about 0.06% the S&P 500 down 0.03%.
You see what we mean? Pretty boring. Although, even on a boring day you can expect the Japanese market to spark some fireworks. The Nikkei225 gains almost 5%…to make back some of the 15% it had lost in recent weeks.
Interestingly enough though the good ol’ NASDAQ managed to post a gain of 0.13%. And that’s off the back of Apple [NASDAQ:AAPL] sliding a fraction due to a really lame attempt at a music streaming service to rival Spotify and Pandora.
Thanks to further evidence that Apple’s lost its way, Pandora [NYSE:P] happened to jump 2.45%. The basket case that Apple is quickly becoming is starting to open up opportunities in other parts of the NASDAQ arena.
What this tells us is that now is a great time to be buying technology stocks. It tells me that some of the big tech companies are starting to lose their way. That presents a great opportunity for the small tech stocks that are trying to take their place.
Every tech cloud has a silver lining.
It’s a strange world if you believe all the news reports at the moment. Ongoing issues with the global monetary system, the (what seems to be) everlasting conflict in the Middle East, the US spying on the world with their PRISM system…there’s a lot to get down about.
But chin up; as Kris mentions today, the world of technology will bring joy to the gloom. And it’s not the big players that you hear about all the time like Apple, Google and Microsoft. These tech giants won the race that’s already over.
It’s the tech stocks you haven’t heard about yet where the real opportunities lie.
And believe me, the opportunities are exciting.
You see, the opportunities are in the companies that push the boundaries of the ‘impossible’ that create unbelievable breakthroughs.
Do you think that just two years ago you’d be capable of 3D printing spare parts for home appliances? Or even just this time last year, did you think you’d be able to ask your TV what it recommends you should watch? How about the ability for paraplegics to walk using the power of their mind? It’s all due to mind blowing technology.
Those are pretty diverse technological achievements. The point is, new technology and innovation has an important impact on almost every aspect of your life. Unless you want to live like a hermit, there’s no getting away from it. And nor should you try to get away from it…embrace it.
The trick is to identify which technology trends will happen first. Even then, there are a lot of companies to choose from. So you need to really understand what their technology does, what it means, and how will it change the world.
That takes a lot of effort. But that’s what I’m here for. In short, what you need to know for now is that it’s a good time to be alive, and a great time to be an investor.
Sam Volkering
Technology Analyst
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From the Archives…
Bernankenstein’s Financial Monster
7-06-2013 – Vern Gowdie
Six Revolutionary Technology Trends for the Next 20 Years
6-06-2013 – Sam Volkering
The Incredible World of Graphene
5-06-2013 – Dr Alex Cowie
After the Correction: Gold Stocks Set for the Biggest Gains
4-06-2013 – Dr Alex Cowie
The Single Best Way to Build Wealth: Invest in Business…
3-06-2013 – Kris Sayce