Off the Record: What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know

A Wall Street maverick shows investors how to find the next Home Depot, Cisco, or Microsoft -- before the Wall Street establishment.

When it comes time to making a major purchasing decision -- a car or house, say -- most people will do their homework and find sources of independent information to help determine whether it's a good buy. The same is true when you face a serious medical decision. Would you rely on someone touting Dr. X's skills on a television show and then call up the good doctor to arrange for an operation? Not likely.

Then why don't we do the same kind of thorough kick-the-tires research when it comes to making investing decisions that will have a big impact on our financial future?

Many of us either don't know how or don't think we have the time. We rely instead on those we think are the experts -- the big brokerage houses, for example. But Craig Gordon has a little secret to share with you. Too many so-called investing experts don't do their homework either, making due with company announcements and meetings with management for their information and recommendations about whether to buy a stock. They're not doing marketplace checks and talking with customers, suppliers, and competitors to see what is really happening in the market.

By the time a stock is being touted by one of the big brokerage firms or stories start to circulate in the investing media, the game is over. What was a great value becomes overpriced and known by just about everyone. The secret to making money is to do it the old-fashioned way: take the pulse of the marketplace, gather data, and spot trends -- not by relying on tips and speculation.

Home Depot, not so long ago, was a mere four-store chain in Atlanta that started to expand into the Florida market. At the same time, the do-it-yourself trend was taking off, and those investors who had reliable information about the quality of Home Depot's management and the response by consumers to this new kind of store were able to make a lot of money -- much more money than those who waited until Home Depot was a household name and analysts were making enthusiastic predictions in the media.

There is a method to finding the next Home Depot, Cisco, or Microsoft. Craig Gordon shows you how to do it by sharing his secrets of profitable intelligence-gathering. He and his team at OTA-Off-the-Record Research have been turning up the trends and shifts in the marketplace before Wall Street even figures out what is going on. In fact, leading Wall Street firms hire him to tell them what is happening so they can decide what to buy or sell. Gordon's system is a method in the tradition of Beat the Street by Peter Lynch and The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. And it's a method investors can use to get results that beat market averages.

Craig Gordon is the director of OTA-Off-the-Record Research, a firm providing marketplace intelligence to the investment community. Previously he was director of research for RCM Capital Management, and he has taught marketing at the University of California at Berkeley and Golden Gate University. Mr. Gordon has served on several boards of directors and is active in a charitable enterprise called the San Francisco Comicle, which raises funds for community programs.

Stephen Kindel is a former senior editor of Forbes and Financial World. The One Book You Must Have to Invest in Stocks