Today’s 3 Best Stocks: Dell Inc. (DELL), Big Lots, Inc. (BIG), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX)

Finally, shares of PC-maker Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) jumped 1.8% after CNBC disclosed that activist investor Carl Icahn had taken a 6%, or 100 million share, stake in the company. Icahn, who has a penchant for enacting swift change in companies perceived to be undervalued, provides a signal to current investors – of which I am one – that he may actively seek better options to unlock value from Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) if its board members aren’t willing to seek a better deal for shareholders. I am rarely an Icahn supporter, but this is a rare case where I feel Dell is worth more than it’s being advertised for. Either Dell will need to enrich its $13.65 deal with a special dividend, or it’ll need to find a higher bid.

The article Today’s 3 Best Stocks originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams owns shares of Dell, but has no material interest in any other companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of Big Lots and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. The Motley Fool recommends Automatic Data Processing.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.