North Shore experts: Economy forecast upbeat

DANVERS – As the Dow Jones industrial average soared to a record high Tuesday, a panel of leading regional economic experts delivered an overall upbeat forecast of the U.S. economy through 2013, led by robust growth in housing, technology and manufacturing.The panelists gave their presentations during the breakfast forum at the North Shore Chamber of Commerce 2013 Business Expo at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Danvers.Robert Lutts, chairman of the North Shore Chamber and principal of Cabot Money Management, moderated the forum and was first to address the roughly 250 Chamber members and guests. He focused on the technology and transportation sectors.?The United States, without a doubt, is the most adaptive, resilient and innovative economy on this planet,” Lutts said, “and technology growth is the Number 1 driver of productivity in our economy.”Lutts said that over the next three to five years, it?s estimated that over 15 billion devices will be added to the Internet.?So we?re really just starting to realize the power and benefit of the Internet.” And all of that new connectivity, he said, is resulting in new data at a record pace that businesses can use to improve management and systems.?Ninety percent of the world?s data has been generated in just the last two years,” Lutts said. “It?s a phenomenal statistic.?So where are opportunities in this area from an investment standpoint? You?ve got mobile devices, data infrastructure, you?ve got (electronic) security, and many others, but there are huge opportunities,” he said.In health care, Lutts said, what?s driving innovation is really computers, and the computers? ability to take information and make sense of it.Lutts referred to American biologist John Craig Venter, who in 2001 became one of the first to map the sequence of the human genome – or DNA composition – which was his own.?At the time it cost about $100 million to do that DNA-map,” Lutts said. “Today, that same DNA map can be generated for approximately $1,000. So we can actually predict disease in individuals and improve treatment ? This is a phenomenal area of opportunity.”Robert Gorman, chief portfolio strategist with TD Wealth Management, agreed that technology is leading America?s recovery, predicting that 2013 will be a fifth consecutive year of sustained growth for Wall Street and the economy.Gorman advised investors, “The lowest risk way to play technology is nearly always the software companies because they have recurring revenue that hardware companies don?t have.”Gorman suggested investors stick with two big name tech companies this year; the first, Oracle, he has recommended the past four years.?Oracle is one of the largest software companies and (last year) it did not disappoint – it had a return of over 30 percent. Stay with Oracle in 2013.”Another he recommends is IBM.?People hear IBM and they think big, mainframe computers. In reality, IBM today is largely services, software and consulting,” Gorman said. He added that although IBM came in about 4.7 percent below expected growth in 2012, the company “is off to a much stronger start in 2013.”Michael Tyler, chief investment officer with Eastern Bank Wealth Management, said the U.S. economy “is an amazing machine that is doing better, frankly, than many people think.”Despite the continued partisan gridlock in Washington and cutback in government spending, Tyler said most market indices are looking up.?Auto sales in particular have really been ramping up, and that makes sense because our auto fleet today – all of our cars collectively – is older than it has ever been in history (11.1 years old). People held onto their cars during a very bad economy and now we?re seeing that pent-up demand turning into more new vehicle sales.”Tyler said the housing recovery “is one of the best stories” in the economy, “and it has tremendous ripple effects.”Tyler said housing prices are moving higher allowing owners to recover equity and refinance; inventory of houses for