With sovereign economies around the world still trying to find their footing after the global financial crisis of 2008, investors are looking at industries and investment sectors that will present opportunities for speculation and profit in 2013.
Although the economy of the United States is far from a full recovery, Wall Street has reacted positively to improvements in consumer spending, housing and the job market. The following three industrial sectors were very dynamic in 2012; they will probably continue to be active in 2013, and thus present attractive opportunities for speculation:
Energy Sector
While there is a great push towards the research and development of alternatives to fossil fuels, the energy sector remains greatly dependent on petroleum products including shale oil, oil sands, and natural gas. Exploration of potential oil sites for drilling is taking place all over the world, from the Golan Heights to East Africa and from the Amazon to Oklahoma. As these sites are discovered and extraction operations begin, precision oil and gas data management will become crucial in this sector. Investing in companies that facilitate exploration and provide logistics for the oil industry could prove lucrative to investors in 2013. See : Oil and Gas Stocks
Home Building in the United States
With a dwindling inventory of residential listings available, the Standard & Poor’s Home Building Sub Industry Index tracks the shares of publicly-traded home builders that are proven leaders in the U.S. housing industry. In 2012, this index enjoyed solid appreciation; as of mid-February 2012 its 52-week range stands between 268 and 512, and some of its companies are diversifying their operations by focusing on the hot rental market in metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and building multifamily residential units. Some of the builders that stand out in this index include Lennar, Pulte and KB Homes. See: Investing in Real Estate for more information on the curent state of the home sales in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando.
Precious Metals
Commodities are constantly ripe for speculation, but precious metals have taken center stage ever since the dawn of the global financial crisis in 2008. The most precious metal continues to be gold, and although investors tend to focus on the monetary uses of gold, according to geology.com “Of all the minerals mined from the Earth, none is more useful than gold.” In addition to its use as jewlery and money it is extremely valuable in electronics. Since electronics use such low voltages the slightest bit of tarnish can interrupt the flow and cause the device to stop working so gold is used to plate the contacts since it is almost impervious to tarnish. Geology.com goes on to say, “A small amount of gold is used in almost every sophisticated electronic device. This includes: cell phones, calculators, personal digital assistants, global positioning system units and other small electronic devices. Most large electronic appliances such as television sets also contain gold.” Gold is also used in Computers, TV’s, and many types of connectors. In additon to its electrical properties it is also in dentistry because it is “chemically inert and nonallergenic.” So gold is used in “fillings, crowns, bridges and orthodontic appliances.” Gold also has medical uses, aerospace uses, uses in awards, gilding, gold leaf, and even in glass making.
Gold was once the only real money and even set the value of national currencies, but these days the value of gold is set by the free market. Although another way to look at it is that gold is money and as dollars depreciate (or are valued less by the market) it takes more of them to exchange for the same ounce of gold. Recently, governments have realized that sovereign gold reserves are still necessary and even crucial to the overall financial health of their central banks and national economies, and this trend is likely to continue in 2013. See: Why (and How) China is Boosting the Price of Gold, Is gold really an inflation hedge? , Inflation adjusted Gold Price Chart, and Why Buy Gold?
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