Investors, it seems, are always looking for the “next great thing.” Since individual stocks are so hard to pick, though, some investors look for investment “themes” instead. They figure if they can latch onto an emerging or hot trend, then it matters less what stock they actually buy within that trend — since they all might do well.

This can, in our view, be a dangerous exercise. Usually “hot” themes result in very expensive stock valuations. Then, if and when there is a theme reversal, stocks can decline very, very fast. Take a look at the 3D printing industry. Several years ago it was one of the hottest themes around.  Read More…

8 Comments

  1. When i heard John Carmack was joining Oculus Rift and then Facebook quickly bought them i knew this was big news for VR and Augmented Reality.

    It’s no surprise that video games are what the general public turn to for entertainment, pushing TV viewing to record historic lows. VR just will solidify video games place even more.

  2. Why am i not surprised this article was going to mention Pokemon Go in some form 😉

  3. My concern is mentioning "hot" sectors seems to leave it open for the bubble to fizzle right away because it is no longer a secret. The prices of associating stocks will already bake in the idea of "hot".

  4. People are obsessed with social media. Obsessed! So buying stocks in anything that is in that area is always a good investment.

  5. Not sure i’d call them sectors as i would call them markets.

  6. Hmm not too sure about autonomous driving (article mentions). Most people fear not having full control. I understand the appeal of hands-free driving but its going to take years of others doing it before a large majority of the public take part.

  7. The staples of real estate and just plain diversifying will always be good picks.

  8. LOL! Artificial Intelligence. Ummm. They’ve been trying to master this for generations. Yes we will get there but we are no were near that. With the debacle of the Microsoft experiment on Twitter we have a long way. I think people mistake AI with natural speech.

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