Big spoiler alert!

Have you ever thought about where we’re going and what opportunities the future may bring us?

If yes, then consider yourself a visionary.

It’s vital to think ahead and see how the economy, markets, technology, and consumer behaviour is about to shift and connect over time.

You see, the future is the only thing we have to change the power of our fate.

Whether it be for a passive income, work trends or just to adapt to what come may.

In this part of the “Future Of Trading” series, I’m going to share, briefly, the 7 mega trends that I believe are about to shape our future and bring new opportunities.

What is a Mega Trend?

A Mega Trend is an upcoming development that will affect the entire world on a social, technological, economical, political, and geo-political way in the near future.

It is our jobs as traders and investors, to keep note of mega trends and disruptive innovations because, they are what will provide buying opportunities for when they unfold.

There is a major boom in energy storage demand and companies.

Soon we’ll see a large scale of vehicles using mainly lithium-ion and vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs).

Bloomberg’s forecast annual electric vehicle sales shows 55% of market share by 2040.

This should be a sign to start looking at electric vehicles, energy storage companies and battery manufacturers to invest in.

While we’re talking about vehicles, autonomous driving could also be the next big thing.

The idea of driverless vehicles in itself, is exciting. Think about functions like automated driving & braking, lane-changing and parking while you’re snoozing.

Best yet, it won’t just be cars.

We’re talking about autopilot functions for trucking, shipping and flying vehicles for both recreational and commercial purposes.

2020 led to a major acceleration in the e-commerce space.

Due to the global lockdown measures and the awareness of what a pandemic can do, we are seeing more customers and companies adapt to online shopping, collection, delivery or drop-shipping options.

Drop shipping, if you don’t know, is an upcoming fulfilment method where a store doesn’t keep the products in stock, Instead, they buy the products from a third part and ships it directly to the customer.

No intermediaries, no corruption, no rental space, no extra costs and taxes. It could be the low risk future of the retail business.

We are still in the early stages, but it’s estimated that we may reach 30% market share by the end of 2025.

Keep a look out for the top global leaders and companies in online shopping.

A much anticipated trend over the last few years has popped up on the radar again.

We’re seeing an incredible sophistication in the rising of 3D printing in many industries including:

• Medical (printing bionic and functioning body parts)
• Construction (from homes to new buildings)
• Retail (From coffee cups to clothing)
• Manufacturing (From industrial machines to AI robots)
• Military (from weapons to custom designed vehicles)

As 3D printing becomes less expensive, more powerful, easier to use and more accessible – we will see demand for the technology pick up.

Just thinking about it.

There might even be a chance for e-commerce 3D printing.

This is where we will own a 3D printer, buy products or food online and then have them printed for us in our own homes.

Extended Reality or XR.

This is a catch-all-term that covers new and emerging technologies that creates immersive and digital experiences.

Basically, it covers two forms of technology that will shape our digital future.

Virtual Reality (VR) – A fully digital immersive experience that blends out our reality and takes us into a computer-generated world.

We will see a rise in demand for VR for the following:

• Online classes and meetings
• Events and live shows
• Discussions and live debates
• Discoveries and inventions
• Recreational and educational excursions

Augmented Reality (AR) – This is a partially immersive experience where we see digital objects overlayed onto the real world.

Either we’ll view AR through mobile devices, contact lenses or upcoming screen technology.
The future opportunities for AR include:

• Information about people, places and objects
• Languages and message translations
• Product and service details
• New style navigation and geo-location technology
• Playing games and online meet ups
• Tracking people and objects
• Digital marketing for future buying opportunities
• Teaching, training and education
• Medical and healthcare surgeries and procedures

NOTE: I’ll go into more detail and illustrations in the near future!

Keep reading MATI Trader.

Before 2018, cannabis was a taboo topic.

They thought you were either a druggie or a drug dealer, whenever you brought it up.

Fast forward to today and not only is it a legal industry, it’s also become a multi-billion dollar industry world-wide.

Go to your local store and you’ll find cannabis:

• Oils
• Drinks
• Candles
• Snacks

And not only is it used for recreational purposes but also for medicinal as well.

As more countries accept and legalise cannabis, we will continue to see a rise in the industry as they explore and find more ways to incorporate weed related products in our everyday lives.

In fact, analysts and forecasters believe by 2025, with 100s of private and listed companies, the world census industry will reach a valuation of over $146 billion.

The monetary system as we know it has even been disrupted.

Thanks to blockchains, this is made possible.

To put it simply, a blockchain is a digital and decentralised ledger that records transactions across a peer-to-peer network in a secure and encrypted way.

Each transaction made is called a ‘block, which is linked to a ‘chain’ of other blocks using cryptography.

Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a time stamp and transaction data.

Now blockchains offer a variety of products and services which essentially cuts out the middle-man, central clearing authority and takes away human error and corruption.

We will soon see a major boom with blockchain as the infrastructure improves and becomes more accessible.

We will one day be using blockchain – peer-to-peer contracts to do just about anything including:

• Faster and cheaper ways to trade and invest
• Easier, cheaper and faster Forex transactions
• Buying cheaper goods and services without added costs
• Playing games and sports with higher speed and quality
• Reliable voting for just about anything
• Crowd funding businesses, charities and causes
• Enjoy social media – without any central organisation
• Encrypt health information without privacy breaches

We will be in a new kind of democratic society with full transparency and be immune to any central organisation attempting to manipulate, hack, corrupt, regulate, influence and spy.

One of the biggest trend’s in the tech world to take over is Artificial Intelligence (AI).

To explain in simple terms, AI is a concept to teach machines, robots and computers how to perform human actions.

Whether it be to rationalise, solve problems, learn, teach, act, perform or detect – AI shows the traits of the human mind.

Machine learning is a branch of AI where the computer algorithms continues to “learn”, adapt, recognise patterns and improve.

Some examples that we have experienced with rudimental AI are the following:

• Facial recognition
• Decision making
• Online chat bots
• Security surveillance
• Fraud detection
• Personal assistances
• Autonomous vehicles
• Web search and translators

As technology continues to improve and speed up, we will see a paradigm shift into a new world with the reliable uses and access to AI technology, robots and machine learning.

Who knows? We could even see an AI machine become so advanced; it becomes part of the board of directors.

Final words

Whether you want to start a business, invest in new opportunities – you need to keep an eye on the future and you’ll stand a better chance at success.

Can you think of any other upcoming Mega Trends that will shape our future as we know it?

Let me know by sending me a quick email at Timon@TimonAndMATI.com and you’ll stand a chance to be featured in my new book “The Future Of Trading”.

Trade well and look after yourself,

Timon Rossolimos

Founder, MATI Trader