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Will You Profit from the Next Tech Revolution?

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One of the most important – and underappreciated – aspects of investing in the technology sector is the need for a 'critical mass' in order to truly make change and, just as important, big profits. Just because an idea sounds revolutionary, it doesn't mean it’s a great investment right now.

A couple of 'hot' industries over the past decade come to mind as cautionary tales; fuel cells, 3-D printing, and drones are fantastic examples of this phenomenon. All three are more hype than substance as investment opportunities.

Sure, any or all of these segments might be big in the years ahead, but none have been able to reach that important critical mass yet, and investors have suffered as a result. These segments aren't ready for prime time just yet and stock prices in these industries could languish until that happens.

Critical Mass Achieved

Contrast this to some of the biggest world-changing technologies that have reached a critical mass in recent years. This includes smart phones, biotechnology, e-commerce or even more recently, cloud computing.

These have all become common terms to even the most novice of investor or technology consumer, and we have seen tremendous gains as a result. But again, we didn't see big profits until the technologies reached a critical mass. Cloud computing had been around for years before it truly took off. Today, it’s a major profit center for giant companies like Amazon or Microsoft. The smartphone has been around for over 20 years, with it only reaching a critical mass with the development and widespread use of the iPhone in 2007.

If you got in at the beginning of these trends, you would have been right about their world-changing potential, but you would have been far too early as well. Would you have been able to wait up to a decade for the industry to achieve its potential?

That is what has happened to investors in fuel cells or 3-D printing. You don't want it to happen to your portfolio if you can help it.

Clearly, investors need to look at industries that haven't fully developed, but are still on track to reach their critical mass and see explosive growth from there. It is a difficult-to-find sweet spot for sure, but the rewards can be immense if you get in at the right time. So, are there any promising candidates right now to be the next game-changing industry?

Thankfully, the answer is a definite “yes.”

More . . .


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Potentially the Most Exciting (and Profitable) New Tech in Years

Be among the early investors in the new type of device set to transform the economy and our daily lives as much as the invention of the internet.

An estimated 20 million of these devices will go live every day for the next 6 years. In the process, the technology driving them is expected to create $11.1 trillion in economic impact.

A select few stocks will outperform their peers. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Amazon in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 6 stocks to watch. The report is only available until Sunday, May 19.

See 6 breakthrough stocks now >>

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Global Transformation Ahead

There is an industry that is on the verge of reaching its important critical mass. This could make for an excellent buying opportunity for investors who can get in to this impressive story in the beginning stages… before the Amazons and Apples of this industry are minted.

Best of all, this market has the potential to be much bigger than the world of mobile phones. That is because it will be all around you, with applications in industry, the home, infrastructure, and countless other ways.

Why might this industry achieve such widespread adoption?

This industry is really an extension and evolution of current. It takes a variety of current technologies -- such as semiconductors, internet, mobile phones, wireless communication -- and combines them into a single, unstoppable, force.

This impressive combination creates three primary benefits...

Efficiency

The best part about this new shift is its impact on efficiency. The industry in question augments current processes across a number of industries, giving analysts and managers new and better data regarding what is working and what customers demand.

These kinds of changes have far reaching effects. Better management of traffic patterns and local infrastructure improves overall economic activity, insurance companies with more accurate information are able to write better policies, and industrial companies can predict when a part is going to breakdown, preventing a stoppage before it ever begins. Anyone seeing the benefits here could become more efficient in the process. And massive increases in efficiency are great news for bottom lines.

Better data = better decisions

Every business craves predictability. Having a predictable pattern -- or at least better metrics -- is a clear way to better profits. Fortunately, the melding of this fast-growing industry and big data will be transformative on this front.

The new technology could do what sabermetrics did for baseball. It will give decision makers a host of crucial data points that were previously unconsidered, overlooked, or simply impossible to obtain with the old methods.

New data points will come from tens of billions of this industry's products out in the marketplace constantly collecting and sending information.

And much like how baseball was revolutionized by this new way of looking at tried and true methods, the same could happen in the broader business world. In fact, the change is already underway.

Increased revenues and better competitive position

With products running more efficiently and people making better decisions, it is easier to deliver revenue growth. And if companies adopting this technology run more efficiently and make better decisions (based on more-informed data) than their rivals, they are undoubtedly in a stronger competitive position as well.

This realization will make many companies pile into this surging industry, potentially creating big profits for the forerunners of this new tech revolution. After all, who doesn't want an edge that will leave their competitors in the dust?

Bottom Line

It isn't every day that an industry reaches the critical mass required to not only become part of the vocabulary of the average investor, but to start producing real stock market winners, too.

I have no doubt that you will hear more and more about companies tapping into the incredible power of this industry's over the coming months and years. One day you may look back on this market the same way a smartphone investor looks back at the iPhone launch.

Clearly, this is an opportunity not to be missed. Analysts forecast exponential growth for this industry in the very near future.

No wonder some of the biggest and most important companies in the world -- from Amazon and Cisco to GE and Samsung -- are scrambling to get their strategies and products ready for this new world!

How to Profit Now

You might already have an idea of what the industry is, but do you want to learn more about the space and some of its key applications as it approaches 'critical mass'? And most importantly, do you want to know which specific investments you need to watch for strong potential in the near future?

Zacks has released a brand-new Special Report to help our members capitalize on this rapid advancement of this new technology.

The report reveals 6 buys to target maximum gains in this market, which experts predict will surpass $11.1 trillion by 2025. These tickers are "under the radar" today, but that could change at any moment.

Don't wait to check it out. Your chance to download the report ends midnight Sunday, May 19.

Click here to learn more >>

Good investing,

Madeleine

Madeleine Johnson is in charge developing a wide-range of content for Zacks.com, including Zacks’ personal finance newsletter. She is also the editor of Zacks Income Investor.

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