Seizing the Huge Profit Potential in New 'Megatrend' Industries

New industries replace old ones... From germs to gene editing... Seizing the huge profit potential in 'megatrend' industries... Harnessing the power of the sun... Welcoming electric and self-driving cars... Join the presentation tomorrow afternoon to learn more...

Editor's note: We took a break from our usual Digest fare yesterday...

Matt McCall, our newest senior analyst at Stansberry Research, detailed his vision of the next decade as the "Roaring 2020s." In short, he believes the greatest 10 years of stock market performance in history are just ahead of us.

We're sharing more of Matt's market insights today... In this essay, he takes it a step deeper, covering some of the "megatrend" sectors that will lead this explosive growth.

But before we get started, a reminder... Tomorrow, October 20, at 1 p.m. Eastern time, Matt plans to explain all the details about his biggest investment prediction in a decade. It's one that could alter the course of your financial future. Get the full details right here.

And with that in mind, here's Matt...

Innovations throughout history have led to one industry displacing another...

Some 250 years ago, the steam engine revolutionized the global transportation of goods. Nearly 100 years later, the automobile replaced the horse and buggy and set into motion numerous new industries... The next major innovation was electricity ‒ a transformative creation that has monumentally improved our quality of life.

The invention of the airplane in the early 1900s established international travel, making it so we can now get goods from one side of the world to the other in hours instead of months... Before its existence, the idea of flying 35,000 feet in the air across the ocean was laughable. Now, it's an everyday occurrence.

Then, later in the 20th century, the personal computer and the Internet emerged... Together, they created explosive new sectors that have totally transformed the business landscape.

But of course, innovation hasn't stopped... Today, we're more innovative than ever.

And to that point, in this Digest, I (Matt McCall) want to discuss what's taking place in a few sectors that will play out with explosive growth opportunities through the "Roaring 2020s"...

It's surprising that we still need to post 'Employees must wash hands' signs...

After all, the average person knows that germs can cause disease and illness... And washing our hands can help prevent that from happening.

But 150 years ago, medical professionals didn't even know that. They had other theories, and it cost millions of lives... Kids, parents, and loved ones all suffered preventable deaths.

Now, we wash our hands, and pasteurize milk before we drink it. And doctors wear masks, gloves, and gowns when handling patients.

This is one of the greatest advancements in human history... Because of our knowledge of germs, we now can detect, treat, and even eradicate them just as we did with smallpox.

Along the way, a giant germ-fighting industry emerged. It has permeated every aspect of health care... and since the COVID-19 pandemic, every aspect of work and play as well. It has generated trillions of dollars in wealth over the past century.

And now, like germ fighting in the past, there's a new field of life-saving science coming soon...

It's a revolutionary new field called "gene editing." Once brought into mainstream use, it will likely save, lengthen, and improve the quality of billions of lives.

Gene editing is just what it sounds like... It involves changing – or "editing" – an organism's DNA to lead to better health. And while humans have tinkered with this idea for decades, only in the past few years has a new technology radically changed what we can do in this field.

It's a gene-editing technique that allows for the modification of any region of a genome... It can be performed on humans or animals, with accuracy and without causing harm to other genes. In addition to curing individuals, this technique has the potential to wipe out a disease entirely.

And similar to germ fighting, it has the potential to create trillions of dollars in wealth for the companies ‒ and eventually the investors ‒ who create the treatments, drugs, and other life-saving goods... I expect to see huge investment opportunities in this field over the next decade.

Gene editing is the result of the Human Genome Project ("HGP")...

This hugely successful international effort had a mission to map the entire genome of a human – or the complete set of our human DNA. It cost billions of dollars to complete between 1990 and 2003.

But by 2022, the cost of sequencing the DNA of a full human should drop below $100, according to ARK Invest. For the cost of a nice dinner out, you'll be able to know your genetics... And of course, the lower the cost, the more people will do it.

The reason people would want to map their genes is simple... It has led to huge medical breakthroughs – with the most important being the ability to change existing genes.

Because of the HGP, scientists have been able to develop a gene-editing process that has huge potential. Being able to sequence genes helped them find mutations... And once mutations are discovered, they can then be edited or replaced.

It's amazing stuff.

The technology allows scientists to cut out the mutation, edit it, and place it back into the genome... It will allow scientists to eliminate diseases that currently have no cure.

According to the World Health Organization ("WHO"), there are over 10,000 known monogenic diseases – that is, a disease caused by a mutation in just one gene. Some of these include cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and Huntington's disease.

Today, unfortunately, most of these roughly 10,000 monogenic diseases go untreated... And yet, one in every 100 newborns has some type of monogenic disease. This new treatment could one day make it possible to cure newborns of any of the thousands of monogenic diseases.

And it's not far from mainstream reality...

Outside of the fact that gene editing is on track to save lives, an exciting investment angle to the technology also exists... Not only are you supporting the companies by investing in them, but you're also setting yourself up for what could be some of the biggest winners of your lifetime.

To be clear, we're still years away from being able to fully cure diseases using this research. But from an investment viewpoint, today is the time to buy...

By the time every magazine and medical website starts touting the life-altering ability of this new technology, it will be too late.

Once this medical technology gets close to approvals, the market caps of the stocks in this space that I'll be recommending will be more like $20 billion... That's still a 10-bagger gain from current valuations.

And it's not just gene editing, either. Other sectors are being overhauled by "megatrends" as well...

Wildfires, floods, and unseasonably warm temperatures are a reminder that climate change is a huge concern...

Of course, it has a massive impact on the weather, world health, and the economy. Some folks even see it as the biggest crisis of our time.

Luckily, at least to some degree, there's help to alleviate it...

I'm talking about renewable clean energy – specifically, the power of the sun.

I know solar energy has its critics, even here within Stansberry Research over the years. And frankly, the power of the sun is nearly impossible for us to comprehend –understandably so, because it's staggering... A 2007 Scientific American article estimated that the amount of energy in the sunlight that hits Earth during a one-hour time frame is equivalent to mankind's total annual energy consumption.

Let that sink in for a moment... That's enough power to run the entire world for a whole year, arriving in about 60 minutes.

Figuring out how to harness the sun has been an unsolvable challenge for decades...

Until recently, we didn't have the technology to make solar power an effective answer to our clean-energy woes. But that's now changing...

The first solar panel was created in 1954. It had 4% efficiency – that is, it converted only 4% of the sunlight it captured to electricity.

Today, efficiencies are significantly better – at around 20%. But that's still well below the 30% level that most experts believe is the highest possible efficiency for single-junction solar cells.

Here's the thing, though... Single-junction solar cells aren't the future.

Multijunction solar cells – which house many semiconductors instead of just one – are the future. And they're estimated to reach a maximum efficiency of 87%.

This is where we're headed...

As a result, we've seen massive expansion in the solar-power industry over the past decade. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Energy, solar energy could account for 40% of the country's power generation by 2035.

This expansion is happening on a global scale, too...

As represented by the auburn-colored segment in the charts below, power generation from solar energy is expected to increase from just 2% of the total market in 2019 to 23% by 2040...

Also notice the dramatic decrease in the size of the blue segment... That represents coal, a leading source of pollution.

In short, clean energy is picking up speed.

Of course, we still have a long way to go before achieving those goals. But we're making good progress...

Ten years ago, solar accounted for just 0.15% of the total global market for power generation. But last year, it accounted for more than 3% of the total market. That may not sound like a lot at first, but it's a solid start.

The U.S. installed about 15 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in 2020 – a record amount! That's great... for now. But it still won't be enough in the future...

In order to achieve 40% of the country's power generation from solar by 2035, installations will need to double from last year to an average of 30 GW per year between today and 2025. Then, they'll need to double again to 60 GW per year between 2025 and 2030.

So as you can see, it's a massive lift...

But I believe it's achievable thanks to the incredible power of several converging innovative technologies.

Specifically, improved technologies have dramatically decreased the cost of solar cells and inverters, leading to an 82% decline in the total cost of solar projects.

The solar photovoltaic module is one of the most expensive components of a solar installation. It cost $2.73 per kilowatt (kW) at the end of 2010. Today, the price is down 89% to just $0.30 per kW.

These costs will continue to fall as efficiencies improve, leading to widespread adoption of solar power as an economically viable energy source.

Clearly, the solar industry is still in its infancy – like many of the hypergrowth "megatrends" we follow. But it's about to shift into hyperdrive. And we, as investors, need to be ready.

Let's take the first step toward a cleaner future together.

Meanwhile, as you know, cars really haven't changed much in 135 years...

Carl Benz invented the automobile in 1886. It soon took off and changed the world. As I wrote in the launch issue of The McCall Report, it was transformative...

What Benz created in his small machine shop was also the start of the German automotive industry that is now one of the largest sources of jobs in the world. Nearly 900,000 Germans and 2 million people worldwide work in the automobile industry.

Add to that the jobs required to make the parts and the total increases to 9 million. Studies show that each job directly related to manufacturing an automobile results in five more indirect jobs – or more than 50 million jobs worldwide.

Remarkably, the Benz Patent Motor Car is fundamentally no different from today's car.

Cars have gotten faster, safer, and more stylish since the first patent was issued in 1886... But most vehicles on the road today are still using gas-powered, piston-driven technology developed in the late 19th century. Cars have transformed the world, but they themselves have not changed.

Until now...

For the first time in more than a century, the automobile industry will undergo a major conversion. Trillions of dollars are already moving into new technologies that will lead to the mass rollout of the electric vehicle ("EV").

Just as Carl Benz's automobile replaced the horse and buggy, in the coming two decades, EVs will replace the more traditional vehicles that have internal-combustion engines.

The EV trend has been one of my favorites to research in the past decade. And today, it's finally starting to enter the takeoff phase...

The EV trend will bring about another revolutionary change in travel...

Even with more than two decades on the roads around the globe, EVs still only command a tiny share of the total number of vehicles... Price, driving range, and battery technology have been the main barriers of growth.

Last year, for example, fewer than 2 million EVs drove across U.S. roads – about 2% of the total number of vehicles. The number today remains small, but it's three times as many EVs as in 2016. As I wrote in The McCall Report...

The percentage of EVs being sold is on the rise, but what is important to put into perspective is that the number must increase 25-fold to move to 100% EV sales globally. In the U.S., the number must increase 50 times.

The year 2020 showed that during the Roaring 2020s and beyond that EVs will continue to take market share from traditional vehicles. According to research firm ARK Invest, global EV sales could reach 40 million by 2025, up from 2.2 million in 2020 – a compound annual growth rate of 82%!

This change in travel will not be good news for gas stations, but it will be big for companies that make charging stations... It will unleash an entirely new industry.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are coming as well...

The thought of a car without a steering wheel could be a bit unsettling for the average person.

Then again, as I mentioned earlier, imagine telling people sometime in the late 19th century that a big metal flying machine would be able to take you over the Atlantic Ocean at 35,000 feet... That seems even more unbelievable to me.

As much as you may want to fight that AVs are the future... the future is already here.

You can find AVs on our roads today... And this is an opportunity nearly certain to come to fruition in the coming decade.

It will bring unimagined new industries into our everyday lives... I'm talking about the parts makers, the chipmakers, and much more.

There are companies in these sectors that might be the source of a "100X" return... I'm talking about the next Tesla (TSLA).

And these aren't just the companies that make the actual vehicles. They're the ones that make the batteries for the EVs and AVs... or maybe the charging stations.

In short, we're standing at the beginning of an incredible convergence of technologies that will revolutionize almost every aspect of American life. The economy will boom despite the very real concerns of inflation, politics, and money printing... And the stock market will hand investors incredible returns.

The Roaring 2020s are upon us. It's time for us to seize the opportunities from these megatrends before everyone else. And as the years go by, we'll keep reaping the rewards.

If you want to learn more about how to get into some stocks that will grow 10-fold – or perhaps even 100-fold – I hope you'll join me for my presentation tomorrow afternoon.

We're planning to get started around 1 p.m. Eastern time. And best of all, it's free. We only ask that you save your spot in advance. You can do that right here.

New 52-week highs (as of 10/18/21): American Express (AXP), AutoZone (AZO), CBRE Group (CBRE), Cameco (CCJ), CoStar (CSGP), Cintas (CTAS), Denison Mines (DNN), Home Depot (HD), Cheniere Energy (LNG), Microsoft (MSFT), Cloudflare (NET), OptimizeRx (OPRX), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Sea Limited (SE), First Trust Cloud Computing Fund (SKYY), AMERCO (UHAL), ProShares Ultra Financials Fund (UYG), and Viper Energy Partners (VNOM).

In today's mailbag, feedback on my Monday Digest and my recent podcast interview with Dan Ferris on the Stansberry Investment Hour... Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

"Matt McCall: 'The next 10 years will be the greatest 10 years in stock market history'...

"Wow, do we ever have a divergence of opinion at Stansberry! This should be interesting." – Paid-up subscriber Charles B.

"I listened the podcast/interview with [Dan and Matt McCall]. Well done. As an Alliance member I keep getting more. Interesting take on trailing stops... I understand your point on the volatility and holding for the long run. I have been stopped out of some stocks that would have been better off as holds. But I also made some great profits and had cash at a good time to look for opportunities. I'm trying to balance. Just like Stansberry Research analysts, I have differing views for different parts of my portfolio. Income, capital preservation, growth, etc., which is long way to get to my question which is...

"How many positions will Matt's basket have in one, two, and five years? I took small positions in the first two, and will grow as appropriate. Looking forward to the next company on his radar. Thanks." – Stansberry Alliance member Jeffrey G.

Here's to exponential gains,

Matt McCall
Baltimore, Maryland
October 19, 2021