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We've talked a lot about the importance of targeting growth stocks as a great way to become financially independent.
In fact, growth is one of the five rules that my tech-wealth-building strategy uses to identify the best profit opportunities.
But you can't ignore "value" stocks – especially since "special situation" plays such as corporate turnarounds can generate windfall gains for your portfolio.
And today I want to reintroduce you to a slumbering tech giant that is the embodiment of a special-situation value play.
For years, this company was the quintessential growth play, a virtual monopoly whose name was synonymous with sector dominance and investment wealth.
But when its growth phase finally ended, this stock fell off the investment radar.
And it's been locked in investment purgatory ever since. Mainstream investors ignore it altogether – or make jokes about the company's eroding core business, famously nerdy cofounder, and the payback it seems to be receiving for its once-bruising business practices.
But not us. We see the huge profit potential ahead…
Ready for a Comeback
I'm talking, of course, about Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) – the stock market kingmaker of the 1990s.
With its Windows operating system installed on virtually all of the world's PCs – its market share peaked at about 95% – Microsoft was the personal computer revolution.
Microsoft teamed with chip giant Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) to create the "Wintel" standard, and the duo's bare-knuckled business practices made the PC market uninhabitable for any other chip-and-software standard.
Microsoft's dominance didn't stop with operating systems, either. With its Office suite of productivity software, the Redmond, Wash.-based company did nearly the same thing in the applications market.
The result: MSFT stock went on a 9,000% ride during the 1990s.
Even the antitrust watchdogs in the United States and Europe failed to derail the Microsoft Express.
Microsoft continues to dominate the PC market. But the PC market is not the dominant force it once was.
With the "dot-bomb" implosion of 2000, the PC market began to slow. From 2001 to 2011, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 34%, Microsoft shares plunged 25%.
The company was caught downright flat-footed as folks began trading their PCs for smartphones and tablets.
And most investors have written the company off – or forgotten about it altogether.
Here's why those investors are making a big mistake…
About the Author
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.
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