If you’re keeping track of all the antitrust suits against Big Tech, you’ve had a busy month.
On December 9, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a Texas-led group of 48 states and territories filed two different antitrust suits against Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). Both suits accuse the company of anticompetitive practices in the social-networking space and call for Facebook to divest itself of WhatsApp and Instagram.
Then on Wednesday, another Texas-led coalition, of 10 states, sued Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL). They accuse Google of working with Facebook to maintain a digital-advertising duopoly.
Before all that, on October 20, 11 states and the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit in an effort to break up Google, which holds an 87% share of the American internet search market.
And on November 10, the European Union brought antitrust action against Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), accusing the e-commerce giant of damaging competition by using its size to gain an unfair advantage over the small retailers that sell on its platform.
That’s quite a list — and we may have to turn it into a spreadsheet now that the FAANG companies seem to be going to war against each other.
In an effort to protect its customers’ privacy, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is updating its mobile operating service (iOS) early in 2021 so that users can opt out of receiving targeting ads. Not surprisingly, ad targeters don’t like that.
“Fortnite” developer Epic Games Inc. has filed an antitrust suit against Apple. And while it hasn’t joined that suit yet, Facebook on Wednesday ran full-page ads in some of the nation’s biggest newspapers saying it is “standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere.”
It’s beginning to look like the 2020s may be as bad for Big Tech as the turn of the 19th century was for Big Railroad.
But that doesn’t mean the golden era of tech investing is anywhere near an end.
Today I’ll tell you why.
Plus, we’ll talk about a better way to invest in Silicon Valley innovation — and how it is very different from FAANG investing …
The Biggest Tech Opportunities Are “Small”
The dominance of the Big Tech stocks and the resulting antitrust efforts against them are side effects of the phenomenon that we call the “Technochasm.”
As money flows into these companies, not only do their shares soar … but they become more dominant in the U.S. economy, society, and culture.
Just consider the chasm between Amazon’s or Google’s influence over all our lives and the current influence of, say, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) or General Mills Inc. (NYSE:GIS).
That right there is the Technochasm — the wide and growing gap between technology companies … and everyone else.
But Washington’s regulatory “hammer” isn’t now aimed at every tech company, and it would be foolish to abandon the entire tech sector because a few companies are being scrutinized.
There are very major differences between the mega-cap FAANGs and the small-cap tech-focused companies in The 10X Disrupter Portfolio that Louis Navellier and I recently put together.
Though they’re all technology companies, the FAANGs and these small-caps are in different universes.
Any future antitrust litigation or legislation against tech companies would likely focus solely on the FAANGs and a few others.
For example, if the government revised Section 230, it would be to regulate specific big social media companies.
All hope isn’t lost for tech stocks in general.
And frankly, if you were considering investing in one company, hoping for a big payday, the FAANG stocks shouldn’t be at the top of your list anyway.
These are the most-watched stocks in the world. No one is surprised when Alphabet creates a new piece of impressive tech. Apple’s value doesn’t soar 10X because of an iPhone release.
But small companies working on impressive new tech are capable of surprising us.
They do have the potential to soar 10X and serve up 1,000%+ returns …
One Company I Like Right Now
Louis and I have detailed several such opportunities in The 10X Disrupter Portfolio.
These stocks are small, innovative, and incredibly agile.
One company in that portfolio is a quickly emerging leader in the $12 trillion 5G build-out.
It already counts major corporations like Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAC), and the Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) as clients. And recently it performed a significant 5G test with telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), sending massive amounts of data over 400 miles away.
This obviously is critical to the success of 5G in the long run … and this company is helping 5G live up to the promise and the hype.
I “give away” the name of this stock and its ticker symbol in the video presentation Louis and I recorded to introduce The 10X Disrupter Portfolio.
Get that name for free and take a look at that video event by going here.
On the date of publication, Eric Fry did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Eric Fry is an award-winning stock picker with numerous “10-bagger” calls — in good markets AND bad. How? By finding potent global megatrends … before they take off. And when it comes to bear markets, you’ll want to have his “blueprint” in hand before stocks go south.