NFL season has begun with perhaps its most entertaining opening weekend of all time. It was a fascinating Sunday, which had fans doing what they do best – talking trash with their buddies. And over the weekend, sports betting entered the early stages of a full-on renaissance — increasing an incredible 72% year-over-year.
Now, some of that could be chalked up to the excitement around the season’s start. Indeed, a record four teams overcame double-digit deficits to win or tie their games. Tom Brady crushed on Sunday Night Football. And Patrick Mahomes ruled the Chiefs’ opener. It was a pretty incredible start to the season.
But that alone doesn’t explain 72% one-year growth in sports betting volume. Folks, we’re not talking about going to the casino and smoking cigars anymore – the incredible start to the NFL season coupled with innovative technologies and less restrictive laws are leading to the normalization of sports betting.
The number of people who tried to log into sports betting apps over the weekend was more than 100 million – and that’s just in America. That means 1 out of 4 Americans were trying to log into sports betting apps. That’s truly massive! And it’s indicative of the broader sports betting trend’s upward momentum. Changing laws are converging upon a diminishing stigma. That’s opening the door for sports betting to take off.
We think that within the next few years, sports betting will become as normal as sports watching. The investment implication? Buy those high-quality sports betting companies and rake in gains as this industry soars.
Sports betting may be in the spotlight due to the hot start to NFL season, but it’s not the only industry I’m watching. Two industries we’re bullish on for the next 12 months are the space economy and robotics. Developments on both fronts have us more bullish than ever.
SpaceX had a really big launch this past week, which went off without a hitch. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) was part of that launch, as its BlueWalker 3 was part of the payload launched into orbit by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. If ASTS proves its tech works, we could be looking at perhaps the biggest opportunity in the stock market today. Then there’s Planet Labs (PL), which just reported excellent earnings – and it was still going strong despite Tuesday’s market turmoil. There’s a ton of incredible developments going on in the industry right now.
And the same goes for robotics. Amazon (AMZN) just bought Cloostermans – a warehouse robotics company – to further automate its operations. This is its second robotics acquisition in a month. The company is making a huge push toward automation here. And this is just the beginning. We’re extremely bullish on the companies making the technologies and products to service the need for automation.
So… what are we bearish on? Oil – August’s CPI print confirmed it. It was hot enough to ensure that the Fed will go full-throttle to kill inflation. That’s going to hurt economic activity – and push oil prices lower. And indeed, the U.S. isn’t the only country to report hotter-than-expected inflation. That means banks around the world will all tighten the belt. And oil will feel it.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is making significant advancements in its war with Russia, clawing back previously held areas from Putin. If that continues, the odds for a semi-diplomatic resolution go up – as do the odds for the resumption of oil exports. We think oil goes to $65 by the end of this year.
And… keep staying away from semiconductor stocks.
To hear more, including my thoughts on the recent hot consumer inflation report, solar electric vehicles, and a potential crypto breakout, watch the podcast in full here.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.