Many times investing ideas can come from industries or sectors that supply our basic needs. I believe the two areas below may be the source of further growth and gains over the mid-to-long term because one deals with the fuel that drives an economy and the other with the desire to find things quickly for our daily lives.
Energy
As the mining industry is shifting from a construction phase to one of production, the drive for more energy resources will be seen in the amount of development projects over the next several years.
The oil and gas industry is moving ahead in WA offshore and the LNG export business along the east coast requires more construction in the interim to feed three separate LNG plant projects located in QLD.
Regions like the Surat, Cooper and Eromanga Basins also hold great promise of unconventional gas. Apart from the domestic energy producers, international oil and gas companies are beginning to turn their attention to these areas since they have some similarities to the resource rich Eagle Ford and Bakken shale oil regions in the US.
Santos Limited (ASX: STO), Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG), Beach Energy Limited (ASX: BPT) Drillsearch Energy Limited (ASX: DLS) and Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) are some of the key players operating in these oil and shale oil regions.
Online classified portals
We all use these services, even if we are casually browsing for a car, home or new job. Once the realm of newspapers and other print media, online portals have moved in to take over the top spots in listings and advertisements for these three consumer services.
Companies like SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK), Carsales.com Limited (ASX: CRZ) and REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) are the largest listings portals for jobs, vehicles, and real estate respectively.
Although they all have gone up in earnings and share price tremendously over a number of years, they did so in an economically weak climate, so if consumer spending does increase and the rising housing market and lower interest rates drive more discretionary spending, then these three service areas stand to grow more.
Trade Me Group Ltd (ASX: TME) is a classified ads website that handles many listings categories. Listed in late 2011, it has a strong standing in New Zealand.
Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ) is making a comeback into classified listings by adding more consumer services to its domain.com.au real estate listings portal, as well as joining with jobs listings aggregator Adzuna to launch the Australian arm of this UK-based company. CEO Greg Hywood described the Adzuna deal as the "disrupted becoming the disrupter".
Foolish takeaway
Economics and financial market trends come down to supply and demand for the most part, so an investor with a wider view notices where things are in short supply, or where demand is hard to fill and satisfy. Those can become growth areas, though some can be cyclical in nature.
