The Best Play in a Trillion-Dollar Market

Michael A. Robinson

In the go-go 1980s – back when the hit movie Wall Street told us that "Greed Is Good" -Carl Icahn was known as a "corporate raider"… and was revered for his windfall-producing decisiveness.

Icahn is still around. And he's still active. Only now – in the politically correct 2000s – he's known as an "activist investor" who's gone up against the likes of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY).

I don't really care what we call him. I just know that Icahn has done us a big, big favor.

You see, Icahn the Great has just cleared our path to a big profit – a company in a hot new market whose shares could surge 50% in the next two years.

And today I'm going to tell you a tale that shows how Icahn did this – and show you the stock that's ready to run.

Anatomy of an "Activist"

During his 36 years in the stocks game, Icahn has demonstrated a flair for pressuring CEOs into making big changes to the companies they run. Stock buybacks, dividend hikes, special payouts, spin-offs, and corporate restructurings… the recommended changes might vary from one "target" company to the next. But the results were generally the same: The target company's share price would zoom, creating a windfall for Icahn – and for the investors who have increasingly followed every move that he makes.

Icahn's newest target is eBay, the leader in online auctions. He's trying to force eBay to spin off its highly valuable PayPal subsidiary. In some ways, it was a shrewd move: Icahn has recognized – as we have with you – that the whole electronic payments emerging sector (also known as a "digital wallet") has a big upside.

This time around, Icahn's power play isn't working. He's met with intense resistance from the company.

For us, however, that doesn't matter. Icahn has focused a tremendous amount of investor attention on this new sector's huge potential upside. He just picked the wrong company.

We didn't make that mistake.

In fact, we've identified a digital-payments stock that's making all the right moves.

So this time, you're going to leave Icahn in the dust.

Before we tell you the name of the company, let's look at the catalysts that are making this new business so crucial.

In the base year of 2012, global digital transactions came in at an astounding $4.6 trillion, the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) says. By 2017, that figure will rise 58% to $7.3 trillion.

Here's the ETA stat I just love. Had you invested $100 in the S&P 500 in early 2007, that would now be worth about $130. But that same money invested in a basket of digital payment stocks would have a value of $259.

The Digital Dollar

That's why you would do well to take a look at FleetCor Technologies Inc. (NYSE: FLT). The company specializes in providing payment-processing services for businesses, commercial fleets, major oil companies, petroleum marketers, and government agencies.

It's particularly big in the energy sector because so many of those firms have workforces distributed around the world, often in very remote locations. FleetCor is a supplier for such major oil businesses as ARCO, BP, and Chevron.

Michael A. Robinson

About the Author

Browse Michael's articles | View Michael's research services

Michael A. Robinson is a 35-year Silicon Valley veteran and one of the top technology financial analysts working today. He regularly delivers winning trade recommendations to the Members of his monthly tech investing newsletter, Nova-X Report, and small-cap tech service, Radical Technology Profits. In the past two years alone, his subscribers have seen over 100 double- and triple-digit gains from his recommendations.

As a consultant, senior adviser, and board member for Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Michael enjoys privileged access to pioneering CEOs and high-profile industry insiders. In fact, he was one of five people involved in early meetings for the $160 billion "cloud" computing phenomenon. And he was there as Lee Iacocca and Roger Smith, the CEOs of Chrysler and GM, led the robotics revolution that saved the U.S. automotive industry.

In addition to being a regular guest and panelist on CNBC and Fox Business Network, Michael is also a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and reporter. His first book, "Overdrawn: The Bailout of American Savings" warned people about the coming financial collapse - years before "bailout" became a household word.

You can follow Michael's tech insight and product updates for free with his Strategic Tech Investor newsletter.

… Read full bio