The Icahn Lift

If you have money in the stock market, chances are Carl Icahn has helped improve your bottom line through what's called the "Icahn lift." That's the upward bounce that typically happens when he starts buying up a stock. He is such a surefire moneymaker that investment managers, like the ones who run your mutual fund or 401k, often follow his lead.

But these are dark times for investors. The Dow Jones has slid over 1,000 points since the first of the year. Icahn has said, "The market is falling off a precipice…the free ride is over, the punch bowl is dry!"

Carl Icahn: The hottest investor in America

While Icahn's name is now synonymous with titanic corporate battles, the Queens, N.Y., native seemed at first to be heading for a peaceful career as a teacher or doctor, earning a degree in philosophy at Princeton and attending medical school before dropping out to pursue arbitrage on Wall Street. During the 1980s he made a fortune for himself in his forays against companies ranging from American Can to Uniroyal (and profits for shareholders too in the case of Texaco and, later, RJR Nabisco), despite a few high-profile misses. But it wasn't until recent years that Icahn began assembling the infrastructure he has now, with three main investment vehicles.

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Icahn joins Buffett for a ride on the rails

Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn, influential investors with very different stock picking styles, have hitched a ride on the same sector -- railroads.

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Source: Lincoln Minor