by Olivia Emisar

Created on: January 27, 2011   Last Updated: May 22, 2011

The stock market is on the upswing with good reason; the economy is turning around in various sectors and Wall Street has thousands of experts evaluating purchase orders and supply and demand for goods and services.  Smart investments in 2011 will take into account the necessities of the moment and the push for innovation promoted by governments across the globe.

Smart investing in 2011 will take into account future growth potential as well as demand of products and services.  While some investments may be out of reach for the average person, an investment in companies that produce components necessary to make the ‘big ticket’ items function properly may be easily within reach to the average investor.

♦ Social Media

Those with a million dollars or more could purchase IPO stock on Facebook.  Goldman Sacks has created a “special Market Vehicle” offering wealthy investors the opportunity to purchase Facebook stock privately in a secondary market.  The stock is not expected to be offered to the public until 2012, but wealthy investors are hedging their bets on making a ‘killing’ once the stock goes public.  Twitter is also expected to go public at a later date.

♦ Necessities

For those who are shy a few hundred thousands of a million dollars, a modest investment on food stock, fertilizers and farming equipment would yield profits over the next few months.  Wall Street has reported fertilizer stocks increasing dramatically over the past few days.  Food prices at the consumer level have increased drastically over the past few weeks and the rise in food prices makes the production and delivery of food stuffs a hot commodity.

With the new push to inform consumers of the exact contents of their food, it would be a smart investment to consider well established stocks in companies that supply or produce organic food and beauty products as well as companies that specialize in ‘green’ energy.

♦ Energy

There is a big government push to invest in solar and alternate fuel technology.  Stocks in these companies are a good stock market purchase in 2011 with a good outlook towards steady growth and increased stock values. 

Bloom Energy has already developed a box that provides energy to commercial buildings, such as Microsoft.  A version for the consumer market is expected within the next 5-10 years at a price point of $3,000, far less costly than current solar

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