The good news:<\/p>\n
1. There are still huge forces disrupting our economy.<\/p>\n
2. The forces work their disruption very quickly.<\/p>\n
The downturn in commodities, in metals, in oil came so quickly. And interestingly, doesn’t look as though that stuff is going to bounce back any time soon.<\/p>\n
There are new forces of disruption. They include:<\/p>\n
+ Banking\/lending money. It’s going online and new providers are being funded and are coming out of the woodwork, e.g. SoFi, Upstart and Funding Circle.<\/p>\n
+ Cord cutting. Cell phones destroyed landlines. Now online video (e.g. Netflix) is destroying cable TV.<\/p>\n
+ Bricks and mortar retailing. It’s called showrooming. We all do it. We pick our product at Best Buy. Then we buy it cheaper from Amazon.<\/p>\n
+ Energy. Coal is dead. The world is awash in oil and natural gas. Solar is almost competitive. Some parts of America are already awash with electricity and some electric utilities are giving it away for free. Texas gets something like\u00a0 a quarter of its energy already from wind and doesn’t know what to with the electricity the windmills produce — especially at night when the wind blows strongest in Texas. 35 to 50 million American homes will one day have solar panels on their roofs, effectively cutting their electric supplier off. Another form of cord cutting. Utilities are running scared.<\/p>\n
+ Nobody will drive a gas car 20 years from now. It’s much cheaper to fill your car up at night with free electricity from wind.<\/p>\n
+ Insurance. Skip your broker. Buy online. I bet there’s already a Priceline for buying and comparing insurance.<\/p>\n
And a graphic on disruption:<\/p>\n
You got to identify the winners and loser fast and move fast. And be prepared to cut your losses FAST <\/strong>if you find you messed up.<\/p>\n In fact, getting out quickly may be the prime thing you need to be a successful investor.<\/p>\n This morning I had a meeting of the board that runs our apartment building co-operative. We’re re-doing the lobby (don’t ask how much). The board is freaked out by the next blackout in New York — perhaps as a result of terrorism. And we’re looking at a big generator to run the elevator, lights, heating and water.<\/p>\n Want to be totally freaked out, read Ted Koppel’s latest book, “Lights Out.”<\/p>\n Wisdom from a great man.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Markets do what they do the best — screw the maximum number of people — Jamie Dimon.<\/p>\n Gotta love the Frenc<\/strong>h. <\/span>Sign posted on the window of a National Health office in France:<\/p>\n![\"WhipperSnapper\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/WhipperSnapper.jpg\")
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