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Over the coming decade, technological innovations are going to change our cities — both in appearance and functionality. But this won’t be possible without one key innovation — 5G connectivity. In today’s Digest, we’re featuring a piece from Matt McCall which details where our smart cities are going — and as importantly for investors — one specific company Matt likes that’s poised to capitalize on this transformation. As Matt writes in his essay, “Now is the time to invest in the companies that will fundamentally reshape our entire cities.” Here’s how to do it … Enjoy. Jeff Remsburg |
How to Make Big Money on Smart Cities
By Matt McCall
If you want to get rich, you need to focus on what will happen, not what is happening right now.
As hockey great Wayne Gretsky famously said: You want to skate to where the puck will be, not where it has been or even where it is now.
Apply this brilliant line of thinking to investing and the rewards can be extraordinary.
Of course, nobody can truly know the future, but we can see it through the innovative and powerful trends that are changing our world.
We can see the future of medicine and how genetic testing will lead to a precision once thought impossible.
We can see the future of transportation as the world’s biggest corporations devote huge amounts of resources to electric vehicles that drive themselves.
And we can see how technology innovations will change our cities. I spend a lot of time researching and thinking about the future, but even I have a difficult time imagining how different our cities will look 10 years from now.
What I do know is that none of it would be possible without the next generation of wireless technology, called 5G. To make a lot of money — like 10X your original investment or more — you need to “skate” toward 5G. Now is the time to invest in the companies that will fundamentally reshape our entire cities.
The Road to Smart Cities
We’re already seeing smarter cities as connectivity helps monitor traffic, energy, crime, and more. But the true smart city of the future is just starting to take shape.
A lot of cities have held back on spending until the next generation of networks is ready to roll out. Think about what becomes possible: real-time connections between traffic cameras and the police department, traffic lights that change based on conditions at that moment, smart streets embedded with sensors that pass data to the municipalities, and so much more.
One company focusing intently on developing smart cities is Alphabet (GOOGL) through its Sidewalk Labs subsidiary. It was created specifically to focus on urban planning.
Sidewalk Labs is working with Toronto to redevelop a section of that city along the waterfront. Toronto is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I’ve been through that exact area. It’s beautiful but needs some work. I’m fascinated by some of the ideas.
This one-two punch of sensors and real-time data, thanks to 5G, opens up a whole new world of possibilities in cities. Cars can “talk” to each other and to sensors that can read traffic flow and adjust lights to keep vehicles moving. That’s just one example.
In other words, the real infrastructure of cities will be the internet through 5G. A story on Wired.com about the Toronto project stated the following:
This will be a fully Google-fied neighborhood, built from scratch, with a touch of Canadian flavor … Sidewalk Labs promises to embed all sorts of sensors everywhere possible, sucking up a constant stream of information about traffic flow, noise levels, air quality, energy usage, travel patterns, and waste output. Cameras will help the company nail down the more intangible: Are people enjoying this public furniture arrangement in that green space? Are residents using the pop-up clinic when flu season strikes? Is that corner the optimal spot for a grocery store? Are its shoppers locals or people coming in from outside the neighborhood?
A 5G Stock to Get You Started
The coming 5G revolution is one of seven mega-trends I highlighted in the recent 10X Innovation Summit. (Actually, there were eight, as I added a bonus trend at the end.)
Identifying the big trend is step one in going after stocks that can make you 10 times your money. These are the pucks we skate to.
5G is high on that list because of how it will change our world … AND it’s a $12 trillion opportunity right now.
I know it’s a little hard to grasp. Most people think about the advertisements they see from cellular providers about the new phones coming out. It’s so much more than that. It will impact industry, transportation, retail, and countless other sectors. And, of course, those newer and better 5G smartphones.
The big breakthrough will be the ability to connect a lot more devices that share large amounts of data in real-time. From cloud storage to the Internet of Things to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), 5G will allow all of the most dominant tech trends of our time to not only flourish but reach new heights — and fit seamlessly into our daily lives.
The pace will only pick up from here. That’s true of the stock prices, too, which will move ahead of specific developments.
One company I like is Nokia (NOK), which makes 5G gear. I mentioned it in the 10X Innovation Summit along with a couple of other plays. (If you want to learn more about those, you can watch the replay here.)
A lot of investors have forgotten about this stock and think of the old Nokia phones nobody has any more. The company now makes networking equipment and software, and there’s a huge need for both as wireless communication moves into the next generation. Nokia recently beat Wall Street’s earnings estimate by 100%, and the stock pays a solid dividend, too.
Best regards,
Matt McCall
