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In This Week's Cocktail Investing Podcast: Tematica Research's investing mixologists Chris Versace and Lenore Hawkins walk through the profound impacts of the forces responsible for our Connected Society investing theme. As the name implies, our world is becoming ever more interconnected as today we can instantly and near effortlessly interact with people on opposites sides of the earth. The increasing interconnectedness has completely changed the way we buy things, watch movies, listen to music, share memories, make new friends, look for love, sell our homes, research new things we want to buy and even do our homework. Amazon, for example, just added a new augmented reality feature to its iOS app that you can read about here. This interconnectedness also means that moments we wish we could erase from everyone's memory instead can be relieved over and over again, such as this priceless moment. We live in a world in which nearly all that is known to mankind is available in the palm of one's hand. Lenore and Chris talk about how the profound waves of innovation driving this interconnectedness have created headwinds that destroyed some of the most well-known global brands and tailwinds that have led companies that didn't even exist 10 years ago to be international superstars. Along the way our mixologists talk about which companies are poised to prosper from the intersection of our Connected Society with the Cash-Strapped Consumer and Disruptive Technology and Safety and Security investing themes. They also discuss how the evolution of this theme is leading to the "datafication" of our lives and who is leading the charge. Companies mentioned on this podcast

• Alphabet (GOOGL)
• Amazon (AMZN)
• Apple (AAPL)
• Best Buy (BBY)
• Cisco (CSCO)
• Costco (COST)
• Dell
• Facebook (FB)
• Fedex (FDX)
• Fitbit (FIT)
• Garmin (GRMN)
• Home Depot (HD)
• Hudson Bay Company (HBAYF)
• Mastercard (MA)
• Netflix (NFLX)
• Paypal (PYPL)
• Staples
• Target (TGT)
• Twitter (TWTR)
• United Parcel Service (UPS)
• Venmo
• Visa (V)
• Wal-Mart (WMT)

Resources for this podcast:

• Chris Versace - @_ChrisVersace
• Lenore Hawkins - @EllesEconomy
• Tematica Research - https://www.tematicaresearch.com
• Themes Report: https://www.tematicaresearch.com/whatisthematicinvesting
• Cocktail Investing: Distilling Everyday Noise into Clear Investment Signals for Better Returns

Books we're currently reading:

• Versace:
• Hawkins: Quantum Physics for Poets