There is no justice in America. No real justice. No, I don't mean our court system. It does the best it can. I mean our system of traffic tickets, particularly those of the parking variety. Look, we all know parking enforcement is a big scam, a way for cities and counties and states to generate revenue. Los Angeles is one of the worst offenders. Overstay your welcome at a parking meter? Ding! 42 bucks. Parked during street sweeping hours? Ding! 49 bucks. That's real money that we could otherwise turn into bigger money by buying even a few shares of Motley Fool Income Investor holding American Financial Realty (NYSE:AFR), Hidden Gems pick Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD), a gem in the making like Darling International (NYSE:DAR), or Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection Marvel Enterprises (NYSE:MVL).
Parking tickets are, and always have been, nothing more than a shakedown. Have a look at your state's vehicle code to see my point. Here in California, if you want to contest a ticket, your judge, jury, and executioner are all rolled into one -- a panel of civil servants employed by the very governing entity you committed the sin against. Impartial jury? Ha! Kangaroo court is more like it. Only after losing your appeals are you finally permitted to get in front of a real judge and defend yourself.
If you've had enough of the government's squeezing you for money, and are tired of literally fighting city hall, why not follow its lead? Many governmental agencies outsource the processing of things like traffic tickets to save money. Affiliated Computer Services (NYSE:ACS) is one such company that helps. It's an $8 billion monster that earned half a billion dollars in the trailing 12 months and generated free cash flow of almost $300 million in the same period. It's a solid business, with an attractive enterprise value-to-EBITDA ratio of 7.6 (a buyout candidate perhaps?), a PEG of 0.93, and profit margins of 13%.
Of course, the company does a lot of other types of outsourcing services, but this article is about revenge for the little guy, right? All we care about is whether we can profit off the very tickets we get slapped with. Considering that Affiliated Computer Services' stock has tripled over the past five years, I say, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
For related Fool analysis, see:
Fool contributor Lawrence Meyers previously held ACS shares, but sold for a profit equal to 12 parking tickets. He owns shares of American Financial Reality, Darling International, and Marvel.
