Thematic Reads: Week of January 6, 2020
Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.
Aging of the Population
The global demographic shift towards a more senior population
- Could a robot care for grandma? (National Geographic)
- Recent surveys show sharp decline in retirement wealth for typical household (MarketWatch)
Cleaner Living
Growing demand for items that claim to be better for you and the planet:
- The Food That Helps Battle Depression (The Wall Street Journal)
- Plant-Based Meat Makers Want to Put Fake Pork on Your Fork (The Wall Street Journal)
- Food nutrition labels are getting a big makeover in 2020 (Well+Good)
- Make 2020 the Year of Less Sugar (The New York Times)
- A weakness for booze and sweets, not meat, increases household carbon footprints (Quartz)
Digital Infrastructure
The Buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities, and Equipment
- Wi-Fi 6E will use 6GHz spectrum, pending regulatory approval (AppleInsider)
- Qualcomm Chips To Power World’s First 5G PC (IBD)
- What is 5G Network Infrastructure? (SDxCentral)
- Razer Shows off Sila, the first 5G router built for gaming (TechCrunch)
Disruptive Innovators
Business models designed to transform an entire industry and leap-frog over incumbents.
- How the next decade’s technological tsunami will change life as we know it (Vanity Fair)
- California mulls electric-car requirement for ride shares (New York Post)
- AI, 5G, ‘ambient computing’: What to expect in tech in 2020 and beyond (USA Today)
- It’s 5G vs. WiFi 6 for the Factory of the Future (Light Reading)
Digital Lifestyle
The increasingly digital landscape that now underpins the entire consumer experience.
- Digitizing The Personal Trainer (PYMNTS)
- Streaming TV isn’t just taking viewers away; it’s taking ad dollars now, too (VentureBeat)
- Delivery Boom Strains Logistics Infrastructure, Boosts Van Sales (PYMNTS)
The products and services people will consume no matter the economic environment.
- NJ Online Gaming Revenue Set To Grow 66 Pct This Year (PYMNTS)
- Death by alcohol: More people are dying from drinking too much (NBCNews)
- A weakness for booze and sweets, not meat, increases household carbon footprints (Quartz)
Those things that bridge the gap between want and ability at every socioeconomic level.
- Luxury Brands Are Digitizing, and China Is Their Fiercest Digitizer (pandaily)
- Harvesting the Other Half: Luxury Consumption in China’s Lower-tier Cities (Jing Daily)
- Chinese-Owned Luxury Brands Struggle as Rest of Industry Prospers (The Epoch Times)
- New York City Suburbs Lure Millennials With Luxury Digs, Ax-Throwing Bars (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
Consumers trading down when and where possible or looking to stretch the disposable dollars they do have.
- How student debt came to define people’s lives (CNBC)
- Earning Income on the Side Is a Large and Growing Slice of American Life (The New York Times)
Areas around the world where rising disposable incomes are driving demand for a host of products and services.
- New York City Suburbs Lure Millennials With Luxury Digs, Ax-Throwing Bars (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
- Defining “new middle class” (The Hindu)
Reflecting the evolving needs across individual, cyber, corporate and homeland security.
- Cyberattacks are an ‘immediate’ challenge for businesses following Iran strike (CNBC)
- Apple, Samsung, Amazon, more will agree on open standard for smart home security (9 to 5 Mac)
- New study shows just how bad vehicle hacking has gotten (CNET)
What Else We Are Loving
Other reads, experiences, products, services and the like that we enjoyed so much this past week we just had to share
- As we move deeper into 2020, and in some cases face cool to cold temperatures, we are thoroughly enjoying the ease and flavor associated with Nespresso, especially in those early morning hours as we assemble the Daily Markets note for Nasdaq. If you’re new to Nespresso, we’d recommend at least starting with Cosi.
