Here at Moneystepper, our preferred approach to investing is a low risk long-term passive investing approach. Boring is best, we say! However, for people who want to take a bit more risk in their investments, here are some possible alternative investment opportunities that are currently grabbing people’s attention!

 

 

Possible Alternative Investment Opportunity 1: Oil

This is a pretty contentious one, but it deserves a place here anyway. Oil has had a difficult time recently, and lost an enormous amount of value over the last six to nine months. In recent weeks there has been a plateau in the fall, but many analysts expect things to drop again, making this a pointless opportunity for investment unless you’re confident enough to short the industry.

Others however believe that oil will simply carry on as it always has, and prices will return to pre-crash levels soon enough, making this a very good place to put money, whether you’re looking to invest in oil barrels specifically, or the wider industry (this may also depend on exactly what your broker offers).

 

 

Possible Alternative Investment Opportunity 2: Gold

This one’s a little different, because the recommendation here is to bet against gold, as it is widely expected to take a downturn soon enough. The key here however is that you’ll need to act quickly if you’re going to come out on top.

The precious metal has already taken a little tumble, and March is historically the worst performing month for gold bullion, which suggests a short position for the next three or four weeks could see a reasonable return on your investment in the order of a few percentage point.

In the much longer term, gold is also coming off a significant rally from the last decade, and may be a good short investment for the coming years. However, when shorting any stocks or commodities, always make sure you restrict your potential losses by setting appropriate limits.

 

Possible Alternative Investment Opportunity 3: Japan’s Stock Market

Right now, there are a variety of stock markets around the world that are considered to be cheap. That is to say that while some such as Britain’s FTSE have recently broken new ground, these ones are well away from their previous highs, and could potentially be due to make their way back to those highs in the not too distant future.

The Japanese stock market is one such market, being a good 40 percent lower than its record high at the moment. There are numerous different trackers that you might like to us in order to speculate on this country’s fortunes, and it will take a little research to find the right one for you. Starting with the cheapest might not be a terrible idea.

 

 

Possible Alternative Investment Opportunities – Conclusion

Just remember – all of these investment opportunities are speculative gambles on the short term performance. We only recommend there for people who are wanting to get a little more excitement from their investing, but these should only ever form a small part of your portfolio as a speculative gamble.

Instead, your long term investments should be much more boring passive options.