I have Thursday, September 6, circled on my calendar, and you should, too. First, my hometown Philadelphia Eagles kick off (see what I did there?) the new NFL season as the defending Super Bowl champions against the Atlanta Falcons. I would be there if I could, but I’ll be traveling and watching in the middle of the night from Italy. The other bigger reason I have that date circled is because it begins the first NFL season in the era of legalized sports betting. Four states have led the way – Nevada, the only state in which it was legal before, and now Delaware, New Jersey and Mississippi have all jumped on board quickly after the Supreme Court opened the door in May.

One of the hottest growing trends on Wall Street right now is marijuana. The market is opening up in a huge way as it becomes legal in more places both medically and recreationally. I’ve made money in it from time to time as certain events (such as elections) have boosted the entire sector, but this is now an unprecedented mega-trend that is still in its early stages. Estimates of where the marijuana industry will be in the years ahead vary greatly, mostly because there are still a lot of unknowns.