Credit: Shutterstock photoBack in May, I talked about the amazing potential of ExxonMobil's (NYSE: XOM ) algae initiative.
To recap: Former CEO Rex Tillerson invested more than a half-billion dollars into a research project led by Craig Venter, who was the first to decode the human genome. The result is a soupy algae that can replace crude oil in refineries.
It's not only plentiful, cheap, clean and renewable, it can come from anywhere. It can work with existing infrastructure and go right into modern combustible car engines. What's more, Exxon could have this technology ramped up for use at an industrial scale by as soon as 2025.
I don't mean to be dramatic, but, WOW!
Mark my words:The Top Ten nations that power our world today will not be the same list in a decade.
I think this change is fantastically exciting, and I like telling about nifty stuff. (Of course, I have to tell my Fast-Track Millionaire readers first.) So, evidently, does Exxon, which is airing a new commercial touting the technology. It is a fascinating study of how to market an unmarketable product. After all, algae is pond scum. How do you sell that? How do you position that to be spun in the marketplace?
In case you missed it: Watch here . (Another spot, which plays next on this video, is equally genius: It uses animation to turn gunk into gasoline that, surprisingly, looks a lot like cold, refreshing beer - which people are drinking in the summer heat. These people aren't stupid.)
Two things:
This commercial is exciting. When a company spends millions in a national campaign to market an idea without mentioning a specific, purchasable, available product, one can conclude there is more to come and Something Big is in the offing. They ain't teasing us for nothing, they're teeing us up for something.
This commercial is brilliant. This spot is merely one element of a larger strategy. It's designed to plant a seed. Its job is to connect a futuristic "someday" concept with universally applauded cultural imagery. Very well compensated consultants tailored everything we see in this commercial. Water = good. Wide open spaces = good. Vaguely twangy non-threatening acoustic country music = good. Farmer = Good.
This is what Exxon wants you to think about when you think about algae. (It's okay if you wanna watch it again.) My point is that as Exxon begins the wide turn to replace the world's incumbent source of energy, they're designing customer attitudes from the ground up. It's fascinating. (Really, watch these ads a few times!) This campaign will be taught in business school in decades to come.
I can't overstate what's going on here. As I said in my original writeup on this, what we're talking about could be the death knell for conventional crude.
If you haven't been following along with my Fast-Track Millionaire subscribers and I in researching this space, that's OK. There's still time to get in on this revolutionary trend.
That's because the only way to play this right now is to buy Exxon.
Of course, I don't recommend it for your aggressive growth portfolio. The fact of the matter is that ExxonMobil is not the kind of stock we're looking for -- that is, the kind that could deliver a 1,000% return in the next few years.
Still, it's not a bad choice for the remaining 80% of your assets, if only for the strong dividend ($3.28 per share annually, for a yield of 3.9%). However, in my view, ExxonMobil is likely to spin this technology off into a separate company.
The board of directors has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders: It can't allow an asset like this to trade for a measly 18 times earnings, which is Exxon's P/E ratio. Such an enterprise could deliver the sort of earnings growth to command 10 times that. Amazon, after all, trades at 275 times earnings and Exxon really is planning to do to the crude market what Amazon did to retail. Spinning off this company might take a few years, but it's something I'll be keeping a close eye on.
If you'd like to follow along with this story -- as well as access all the rest of my research, then I invite you to join me over at Fast-Track Millionaire . It's your best shot at bagging those 1,000% winners I talked about. To learn more about my strategy for bagging these kinds of gains, go here . It could be the best investing move you ever make...
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
