Assignment 6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

1 Economic Trend – Gas Prices are increasing

This trend was noticed by me naturally when I fill my car up with gas every week, But I also noticed it when I watched the news. Because of U.S. sanctions on Iran, gas prices are beginning to soar. People are limited on their spending by the income they accrue each and every pay period. Whenever people’s disposable income drops an opportunity exists. Alternative transportation provides ways for people to save money and thus they have more they can spend. The prototypical customer would be someone who has enough disposable money to buy an alternative form of transportation in order to save on gas in the long term. This opportunity would be rather difficult to exploit. Developing a different form of transportation will likely take considerable research and development.

I’ve always been interested in U.S. Political actions and sanctioning another country is a big step for the U.S. to make. I realized that it would have major effects on our economy. My knowledge of Iran and the fac that petroleum is one of their major experts, it makes sense that an increase in the price of their exports would transfer over to the customer.

2 Economic Trend – Interest rates are increasing

I have noticed this trend when I listen to the news each week. I also have noticed it by looking at the statistical data relevant to housing mortgages. As the cost of living goes up for the average person, they have less money to spend on other things. People enjoy luxury goods and this prevents them from getting more. Any way to help people find ways to lower their interest rates would result in more disposable income which the average person would find useful and enjoyable. Any person who is looking to find a lower interest rate on a house they want to mortgage would be a customer. In order to exploit this opportunity, there would have to be a substantial amount of startup capital. The ability to pay for multiple houses simultaneously is a necessity.

As a finance major I like to stay up to date on our nation’s current financial standing. Therefore, I am very observant when it comes to something that could either help or hurt our economy such as lending interest rates. It is my interest in the subject that led me to view it as an opportunity.

3 Regulatory Trend – Bump stocks could be legally classified as machine guns soon

I found this trend on Regulations.gov. It interested my because of the recent talk about the availability of automatic weapons in relation to the recent school shootings. If bump stocks are classified as machine guns then people would have to become certified to own them or they would have to sell them back to companies. Either of these results would be a great business opportunity. Teaching certification classes, or collecting bump stocks would be an opportunity for a new business. People who own bump stocks and are not certified to keep them would be the prototypical customers. This opportunity would be relatively easy to exploit. Either you would have to get permission to collect the bump stocks, or become certified to teach people about machine guns. Neither of these requires much start up capital or knowledge.

I keep up with the news and thus I was interested when I saw this on regulations.gov. While most people might just let the government handle this issue, I know that people also have an opportunity to get involved here as well.

4 Regulatory trend – Cryptocurrencies are becoming regulated and taxed by government entities

This trend was found by me naturally, I was an earlier investor in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies so I have been following their development for some time. I was always interested in the way that they functioned. There is an opportunity here that involves either facilitating the tax transactions between cryptocurrency startups and the federal government, or assisting the moving of startups to areas with lower taxes. Either of these opportunities represents a way in which a need can be met. The most likely customer would be the founder of new cryptocurrency startups. This opportunity would take a significant amount of research and expertise to be done correctly. Therefore, it is not an easy opportunity to exploit.

I was an early investor, and miner in cryptocurrencies and therefore have a decent level of knowledge. This helps me see the opportunity in the cryptocurrency market.