Looking for Opportunity

Economic

1) Why Upperclassmen Are Loosing Financial Aid

A)  http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/education/edlife/why-upperclassmen-pay-more-they-may-get-less.html

B) Prior to reading this article regarding financial aid I thought once you were awarded a grant it covered all costs for your first four years of college. After reading this it seems as if colleges can use them as a tactic to bring in the next class of Freshman. There is an opportunity here to perhaps standardize the way grant money is handled so students aren't expecting one thing and receiving another. A college student should not have to submit document after document with differing deadlines to maintain it from year to year. I am certainly not pro regulation, but consistency in how grants are handled and presented to the students seems like a regulation I could get behind. So if there were some type of consulting firm to assist students with this process I think that could be helpful.

C) The student receiving the grant money would be the customer with the opportunity.

D) This would be a difficult opportunity to exploit. To start an organization to help college students understand the grants they are going to receive and what the terms of the grants are probably wouldn't have a high return. The "customer" may not have the means to pay someone to advise them.

I saw this opportunity due to the heavy talks going on right now about free college for everyone. While that is not even remotely possible based on simple math, there is a middle ground out there. And that exists through grants and other forms of financial aid. Students receiving them should be able to receive sounds advice and make sure they are committing themselves to the right program.

2) Weak Consumer Spending

 

A) http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/28/weak-consumer-spending-trade-seen-hurting-us-first-quarter-growth.html

 

B) With interest rates still low it may be a good time for someone to get into a retail type business. While consumer spending is lower in the first quarter than anticipated people are getting back to work and saving money. Consumer's confidence can rise when they don't feel the strain of personal finance and will begin to spend again.

 

C) The customer would be the consumer.

 

D) Starting a small retail business is by no means easy. However, the economy is strengthening and consumers will start to spend money once again on "luxury" or non essential items.

 

I see this opportunity as good timing. Consumer spending may be down for the quarter, but the article states that people are going back to work and saving money. While the same reckless spending that happened before will probably not happen again, consumers will regain confidence and spend again. So I think with the right idea a retail type business could do well.

Regulatory

 

1) Shrunken Citigroup

A) http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/business/dealbook/shrunken-citigroup-illustrates-a-trend-in-big-us-banks.html

 

B) This article talks about the demand of regulation on the large banks such as Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan. Through regulation these banks have been forced to downsize and get rid of their high risk businesses. It also states that the banks are to have larger financial cushions and plans to downsize in the event of a crisis. The opportunity here exists for consumers to have confidence in the banking system again. While I don't want to see the banks so heavily regulated it cannot operate, I do want to see them acting responsibly.  

 

C) The opportunity exists for consumers to have responsibility in banking.

 

D) The opportunity has I'm sure been difficult to exploit. The banks had to be regulated over the last eight years to get to this point today.

 

I had an opportunity to live during one of the worst economic down turns at a young age where I was not affected by it, but saw so many others affected by it. I use to wonder how so many young people could afford such nice houses at such a young age when I was involved in construction. Well, subprime mortgages and irresponsible lending were the answer. So the opportunity for the banking world to be better regulated is a great thing and will hopefully lead to more economic stability.

 

2) Regulatory Banking - Cyber Threats

A) http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/regulatory/banking-regulatory-outlook.html#

 

B) This article talks about the regulations on banks for cyber security. Identity theft and cyber hacks are very prevalent in todays world. The article also outlines the standards banks are held to along with tools that are provided to them to prevent and adapt to new types of cyber attacks.

 

C) This opportunity exists for any individual with a bank account.

 

D) This would be an easy opportunity to exploit. Keeping individuals financial information safe is something anyone can buy into.

 

I can see the opportunity because I have had my banking information taken before. Luckily my bank was able to catch it and notify me within a reasonable time.