ZipCar IPO...

...and the sharing economy:

Without getting too deep into it here, because I have a forthcoming post that does, Zipcar is representative of a MONSTER trend that is taking place within our economy right now. You can think of an investment in Zipcar as an investment in this trend, not necessarily an investment in this specific company. Yes, if you read this blog and understand my approach to the market, you know that investors often do not look at single company in a vacuum, they often invest based on broader themes they see developing. You can think of Netflix this way.

Zipcar is the perfect representation of the fact that our economy is shifting, drastically, from people wanting to own things, to people wanting to use things, but have no desire to own them. This shift is made possible by recent technological advances in peer to peer networks. These services are sprouting up in every industry, even baby toys. Instead of buying baby toys which you will throw out in a year when your kid outgrows them, why not rent them when it makes sense, with a subscription service, and send it back when your kid is done playing with it, like a video game rental.

More on this IPO here, and how Goldman Sachs just shafted ZipCar.