“It’ll cost $2.2 trillion to fix America’s ailing infrastructure.”
That’s according to an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) report, being released early as Congress prepares to vote on a massive economic stimulus with a large infrastructure portion.
The report claims that the country’s roads and transit and aviation systems have further deteriorated over the past four years, when their last American infrastructure report card was issued. In this new report, water and sewer systems are simply labeled “dreadful.”
But for all the bad news in the report, there is equally good news for your portfolio. You see, fixing these problems—which we must do if we want electricity and clean water—will be a multi-trillion dollar market event with a double bottom line.
Money spent on these projects, from both public and private sources—will provide much needed revenue to infrastructure companies operating in terrible market conditions, and it will also leave us with a rejuvenated electricity grid and a revamped water system.
You can come along for the ride, too, provided you invest wisely in the companies that will be executing major projects.
American Infrastructure: “Barely Above Failing”
The last time the ASCE issued its infrastructure report card, the nation was issued an overall grade of “D”.
This time, the grade was also a “D”, but according to report chairman Andrew Herrmann, it’s slipping from a “high D” to a “low D”.
By nearly all measures, American infrastructure systems of all types are barely above failing.
The report looks at the same 15 areas it did four years ago—three of them got worse, only one got better, and the rest remained in the same poor condition. The price tag to fix the problems has also changed, growing $500 billion, from $1.7 trillion to $2.2 trillion.
Here are the systems rated in the report, along with their grades:
-
Aviation, D
-
Public Transit, D
-
Roadways, D-
-
Energy, D+
-
Solid Waste, C+
-
Bridges, C
-
Parks, C-
-
Rail, C-
-
Dams, D
-
Hazardous Waste, D
-
Schools, D
-
Drinking Water, D-
-
Inland Waterways, D-
-
Sewage, D-
-
Levees, D-
The particularly profitable sectors from that list are those related to water and energy. Over the next 20 years, the EPA estimates that $390 billion need to be invested to “update or replace existing water systems and build new ones to meet increasing demand.”
It doesn’t help that leaking pipes lose about seven billion gallons of clean drinking water each and every day.
On the energy side of things, demand for electricity has grown 25% since 1990, but our transmission and generation assets have not grown as quickly. Drastic and expensive measures are needed to increase transmission capacity for renewable energy and to maximize efficiency gains at each link of the value chain.
All these solutions, as you’re about to see, will lead to a can’t-miss investment opportunity. The smart money is already being laid down, so you need to act quickly to maximize your profit potential.
Infrastructure & Portfolio Solutions
The ASCE makes no bones about what is needed to overhaul our crumbling infrastructure. The draft of the report issued today outlines five key solutions to raising the nation’s infrastructure GPA:
-
Increase federal leadership
-
Promote sustainability and resilience
-
Develop federal, regional, and state infrastructure plans
-
Address lifecycle costs and ongoing maintenance
-
Increase and improve infrastructure investment from all stake holders
Luckily for your portfolio, Congress is already working on executing a few of those solutions via the $850 billion ($1 trillion?) stimulus that is quickly making its way to a vote.
With the possible exception lifecycle costs, the stimulus bill firmly hits on the four other solutions set forth in the report.
Federal leadership is implied in a Congressional bill.
Investments for energy efficiency and clean technology takes care of promoting sustainability.
Federal, regional, and state plans are inherent in the bill.
And the main goal is increasing overall infrastructure investment.
All the pieces are coming together to incite rapid increased reevaluations of related stocks. The only thing you need to do is know who the winners will be and stake your claim early.
And I’ve taken all the guesswork out of it.
My new report, Infrastructure Stocks: Sky-High Underground Profits, has all you need to know to profit from this guaranteed market boom. It outlines all the coming infrastructure action, and details 10 companies that could earn you double- and triple-digit gains.
There’s no reason to wait. The biggest bull run of 2009 is already underway, with some stocks up 20% or more on news of the coming stimulus.
Waiting to read this report will only lead to reduced profit potential.
To stay in the know about the world’s most profitable commodity visit Alternative Energy Speculator and sign up today.
Call it like you see it,
Nick
