My windshield was smashed. Everything of value in my car was gone. They had rifled through every single thing in my car, leaving a mess.

That’s what happened to me the first time I took my car to New York City.

This was in 1989. My entire summer job’s earnings were in this car that I had paid $800 for.

It was a nine-year-old, unpleasantly yellow two-door Toyota Tercel. Still, it worked, and best of all, I had a car for the first time since I’d come to the United States.

So, of course, one of the first things I did when I got back to college … was drive it to New York City.

Back then, New York City was crime-ridden. Bryant Park, which is now a fancy place, had so much drug activity that you’d see needles scattered through the park.

So, why am bringing this up to you today? You see, the stock market is a bit like New York City in the 1980s. There is incredible risk if you’re buying the wrong stocks, and you’ll end up losing more than you bargained for…

Learning the Hard Way

People had warned me: Don’t take your car to New York City. Just take the bus.

Or if you take your car, park it in a paid parking lot. They told me my car would be safe because someone was watching the lot.

Of course, I didn’t follow any of this advice. I was a poor college student, and the idea that I was going to stand around waiting for a bus, then pay $12 for round-trip tickets seemed silly when I had a car.

Paying $15 for parking also sounded ludicrous, especially when parking on the streets of New York City was free.

You can say I learned my lesson the hard way.

To repair my windshield cost $100. The value of the things in my car was another $40. Then, to add insult to injury, I was ticketed because I stayed over the time limit for the spot I parked in. That was another $50.

Following the guidance of people who had experience would have saved me valuable money.

Right now, if you make the wrong moves in the market, I believe you’re going to find yourself in a similar position. Not, however, if you look to mega trends.

The Lens of Mega Trends

You see, many people think that the market is too expensive. They use backward-looking statistical measures like cyclically adjusted price to earnings, or CAPE, to justify their view.

However, the problem with CAPE is that it’s incredibly backward-looking. It looks backward, when stock markets look forward.

And when you look forward using the lens of mega trends like the Internet of Things (IoT), CAPE looks wrong. Completely wrong. The reason for this is productivity growth.

Productivity leaped by 3% in the last quarter. That’s the fastest level the U.S. economy has experienced in three years.

Most economists think this is a fluke. However, the stock market is a better forecaster than any economist. The S&P 500 is up 3.2% since this was announced.

I believe this is the beginning of a huge rise in productivity growth that’s going to go on for years, thanks to these mega trends.

 More Money in Your Pocket

The causes of productivity growth are hard to see in the data today. However, I believe it’s the early dividend due to the rising use of IoT technology like Big Data, artificial intelligence and robotics. These technologies are being used in more countries and in a rising number of industries.

This is why I am optimistic about where the prices of stocks can go in the U.S. and many parts of the world. In fact, the No. 1 stock for subscribers of my Profits Unlimited service is up over 200%, and it’s an international sensor/chip company that’s involved in every facet of the IoT.

As productivity rises, we’re going to see this stock and others continue to rise.

The bottom line is, doing the right thing now means more money in your pocket later. And based on what I’m seeing today, I believe that the right thing to do is own stocks in general, and then to focus on those that are exposed to rising growth and productivity.

Regards,

Paul Mampilly

Editor, Profits Unlimited

In this exciting NEW VIDEO, Wall Street legend and former multibillion hedge fund manager Paul Mampilly pulls back the curtain on the biggest investment opportunity in the market today. What insiders are calling “The Greatest Innovation in History,” this revolution will mint more millionaires and billions than any technology that came before it. Right now, the current market for this technology is just $235 billion, but given how fast this technology is moving experts predict it will soar to $19 trillion by 2020. But 8,000% growth is just the beginning—and now’s your chance to get in on the action. [CONTINUE TO VIDEO]

Source: Banyan Hill

The airline announced that it would be buying these A321neo jets for $25 billion to go along with an optional 100 more of the aircraft. Delta Air Lines announced the move through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company added that it expects deliveries of the aircraft to begin in the first quarter of 2020 and continuing to arrive through 2023. Delta added through the SEC filing that it now expects its operating margin of its fourth quarter to be 11%.

The company previously said that it expected this figure to be between 11% and 13% in its previous forecast. Airbus beat out Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) for the move as Boeing and Delta have had a fraught relationship in recent quarters.

The disagreements between the two companies began in October following Boeing’s success in lobbying the U.S. Commerce Department to pass trade duties of roughly 300% of Delta’s decision to order CSeries jets from Bombardier Inc (OTCMKTS:BDRBF).

Delta has made no mention regarding whether or not the disagreement between the two companies affected the airline’s decision to go with Airbus for the deal.

“This is the right transaction at the right time for our customers, our employees and our shareholders,” CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement today.

DAL stock gained 2.8% on Thursday.

Can a $10 Bill Really Fund Your Retirement? The digital currency markets are delivering profits unlike anything we’ve ever seen. ​23 recently doubled in a single week. And some like DubaiCoin have jumped as much as 8,200X in value in 18 months. It’ unprecedented... but you won’t receive any of the rewards unless you put a little money in the game. Find out how $10 could make you rich HERE. ​

almost feel sorry for the hype machine known as Elon Musk and Tesla. First, the electric car field is becoming crowded with more and more players, making it tougher to stay ahead in the race to an electric future.

Then, Musk boasted about the 75-megawatt lithium-ion battery Tesla built within 100 days in Australia to help with their power shortage. That glory will fade quickly as Korea’s Hyundai’s Electric & Energy Systems Co. is building one twice as big – 150-megawatts, that will go live in about three months on the country’s southeast coast.

Finally, he rolled out Tesla’s e-Truck with much fanfare. However, more established players in the field have already beaten Musk to the punch with their version of an electric battery-powered truck. But before I delve into those companies, let me tell you about Tesla’s electric truck.

Tesla’s e-Truck

Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s electric truck last month that has been in development for over a year. It is supposed to have a range of about 500 miles and, according to Musk, will be “impossible” to jackknife. He said that it would go into production in late 2019.

While the range is too short for long-haul drivers, the truck will still have a ready market. That’s because 80% of routes driven by truckers are less than 250 miles. Already, a number of large companies have placed orders for Tesla’s electric truck. These firms include: Walmart (15 trucks), Anheuser-Busch (40 trucks), Sysco (50 trucks) and JB Hunt (40 trucks) along with a host of other companies that placed smaller orders.

Tesla’s truck does have some nice features. It will use the same sensors as its smaller vehicles for its autopilot system. At the moment that means safety features such as automatic lane control and braking, but it eventually will allow full autonomy. The truck uses cameras instead of wing mirrors, helping its aerodynamic look.

Related: 3 Electric Car Stocks to Crush Elon Musk and Tesla

However, Musk claimed that the charge for these trucks would only take 30 minutes using a solar-powered “megacharger” that Tesla hasn’t invented yet. It is supposed to be 10 times more powerful than the current supercharger for Tesla’s electric cars.

Doubts and No Doubts

Some scientists have questioned Musk’s claims about the megacharger, saying it’s science that hasn’t happened yet. The fastest chargers today can support 450 kilowatts of charging compared to the roughly 1,500+ for Musk’s megacharger.

A U.K. consultancy called Aurora Energy Research, set up by scientists from Oxford University, estimated that the power required to charge a battery in that short a time frame would be 1,600 kilowatts. Questions arise then about the electric grid’s ability to handle that load since the scientists’ claim that’s the equivalent of providing power for several thousand homes.

While there doubts on the science side, if that is solved I have no doubt that production can be ramped up quickly.

Just look at China and e-buses.  Just a few years ago, China only produced about 10,000 electric buses. But in 2016, output exceeded 100,000 buses. Market leader BYD (OTC: BYDDY) has also begun to churn out a good number of electric garbage trucks. The company, 8.5% owned by Warren Buffett, has been assembling them for two years at a California plant and is opening another facility in Ontario, Canada next year.

The question with electric trucks is whether Tesla will be the winner or will more established players in trucking and engines triumph. Here’s look at three of them.

Electric Truck Company #1 – Cummins

The first company is Cummins (NYSE: CMI), which will not build electric trucks. But it will supply a fully-integrated battery electronics system (with the batteries coming from an unnamed supplier. It is a leading maker of diesel and natural gas engines for commercial trucks.

Without any of the fanfare of the Tesla unveiling, this summer saw a big e-trucking announcement from Cummins. It revealed a Class 7 heavy-duty truck cab (the cab was built by Rousch Enterprises) that featured an advanced 140 kilowatt battery pack, which is capable of hauling a 22-ton trailer. Cummins said it would begin selling the 18,000 pound cab (named AEOS) to bus operators and commercial trucking fleets beginning in 2019.

The battery has about a 100-mile range, so Cummins is targeting urban delivery vehicles (like a beer truck or food delivery truck) as well as other short haul trips. It can be recharged in about an hour at a 140 kWh charging station, and the company’s goal is to get that down to 20 minutes by 2020. Cummins added that current battery technology doesn’t yet make sense for a Class 8 semi tractor-trailer (an 18-wheeler).

Cummins is also offering an extended range version (available in 2020) of the AEOS. It uses an efficient diesel engine as an on-board generator, which allows for up to possibly 500 miles between charges and 50% fuel savings compared to today’s diesel hybrids with zero emissions.

You may wonder if this is the right move for Cummins and if it can remain competitive when the trend is clearly toward electric vehicles.

The history of this 98-year old company suggests the answer is yes. It was at the forefront of environmental shifts, embracing stricter clean air standards while other manufacturers dragged their heels. It also led the shift from 2-stroke to 4-stroke diesel engines and was a leader in developing after-treatment systems for nitrous oxide particulates.

With its work on electric powertrains and fuel cells for about a decade, I think it will succeed again. That means more gains for its stock on top of the 25% gain year-to-date.

The next two companies offer more direct competition to Tesla.

Electric Truck Company #2 – Daimler

Daimler AG (OTC: DDAIY) is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles and a former Tesla shareholder. So as you can imagine, it is taking the challenge from Tesla quite seriously. To that end, it has already started initial production of its Fuso eCanter urban delivery trucks. And it expects such vehicles to be competitive with traditional diesel vehicles cost-wise within two years.

Daimler introduced the light-duty eCanter haulers in New York in September, supplying a fleet to several New York City non-profits as well as signing United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) as its first commercial customer in the U.S. The truck has a range of 60 to 80 miles between charges and is coming to market as customers insist on cleaner vehicles better-suited to rising delivery demand (e-commerce) in cities.

The company will start mass production of these vehicles at its Tramagal plant in Portugal either late in 2018 or early in 2019. About 10,000 of the light-duty eCanter were produced at this plant in 2017.

Daimler is also taking Tesla’s challenge in heavy-duty trucks trucks seriously. It beat Tesla to the punch when it unveiled the E-Fuso Vision One in late October. This truck can carry 11 tons of cargo up to 220 miles before recharging. Its load is two tons less than a comparable diesel model in order to accommodate the weight of the 300-kilowatt battery packs.

It will be interesting whether these moves will boost Daimler’s ADR in 2018. It is almost unchanged so far in 2017.

Electric Truck Company #3 – Volvo

Another European company that Tesla should worry about is Volvo AB (OTC: VLVLY).

You may not be familiar with Volvo – it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment, industrial and marine engines. The car division was first bought by Ford, which in turn sold it to the parent of Geely Automotive in China.

Volvo is one of the biggest providers of electric buses and hybrid-electric buses in the world. And it is a major producer of electric construction equipment and autonomous mining equipment. This being at the forefront of electric and autonomous vehicle design is a reason why I believe the stock is up 57% year-to-date.

Related: 2 Stocks for the Death of the Combustion Engine

It is testing in Sweden an autonomous garbage truck that uses sensor to continuously monitor its path and stops immediately if an obstacle appears in front of it. It drives itself from stop to stop with the driver walking in front of it to pick up the trash.

Volvo is also working other futuristic technology including charging pads and electrified highways that will themselves charge electric vehicles. And with 600,000 connected vehicles (200,000 in the U.S.), Volvo is collecting lots of data to further improve its vehicles.

Specifically with trucks. Volvo is testing a hybrid powertrain for long-haul heavy-duty trucks that is all part of its Super Truck project working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy. Here are some of its features:

• It recovers energy when driving downhill on slopes steeper than 1%, or when braking. The recovered energy is stored in the vehicle’s batteries and used to power the truck in electric mode on flat roads or low gradients.It has an enhanced version of Volvo Trucks’ driver support system I-See, which has been developed specially for the hybrid powertrain, which analyses the upcoming topography using information from GPS and the electronic map.

For long hauls, it is estimated that the hybrid powertrain will allow the combustion engine to be shut off for up to 30% of driving time.

Bottom line for you — a new age in trucking is right around the next bend in the road and there are a lot of other purer-play companies besides Tesla for you to profit from in this sector.

Buffett just went all-in on THIS new asset. Will you?
Buffett could see this new asset run 2,524% in 2018. And he's not the only one... Mark Cuban says "it's the most exciting thing I've ever seen." Mark Zuckerberg threw down $19 billion to get a piece... Bill Gates wagered $26 billion trying to control it...
What is it?
It's not gold, crypto or any mainstream investment. But these mega-billionaires have bet the farm it's about to be the most valuable asset on Earth. Wall Street and the financial media have no clue what's about to happen...And if you act fast, you could earn as much as 2,524% before the year is up.
Click here to find out what it is.