Chris’ note: Our mission at the Cut is to put the best moneymaking ideas on your radar. Sometimes, these ideas come from outside Legacy Research Group. So today, we share an essay from Marc Chaikin. Marc is the founder of stock market analytics firm Chaikin Analytics.
He became a legend on Wall Street with his development of proprietary stock indicators. One of them is the industry-famous “Chaikin Money Flow” indicator.
Prior to retiring from Wall Street in 1999, Marc charged his hedge fund clients $5,000 per month for his research and analytics.
But today, he doesn’t work for hedge funds. His goal is now to help everyday investors access the same kind of data, without the Wall Street price tag. That’s why he held a special presentation this afternoon. In it, he explained everything you need to know to get involved. You can catch the free replay here.
Having access to the best data can give you an unparalleled investing edge. But as Marc explains below, there’s something more important than data alone…
My life’s work is now accessible to “Main Street” investors.
I’ve built 50 years’ worth of Wall Street insider knowledge into my model. And it’s specifically designed to give everyday investors clear and actionable investment information.
There’s no wishy-washiness. The model generates a concise “very bullish” to “very bearish” rating for more than 5,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). And it’s built on the same analytical tools I developed for Wall Street.
Heck, Bloomberg built my “Chaikin Money Flow” indicator into its world-famous trading terminal. Thomson Reuters – Bloomberg’s biggest competitor – uses it, too.
I’ve made sharing these tools with individual investors the capstone of my career. And while I don’t mean to boast… I’m proud of how well it has come together.
For example, my system pointed to Riot Blockchain (RIOT) before it shot up 10,090% in less than 12 months… Digital Turbine (APPS) before it shot up 789% in eight months… and Overstock.com (OSTK) before it shot up 1,050% in four months.
But there’s something that might be more important than the data my system uses… It’s the fundamental difference that determines investment success.
Obviously, having access to the most powerful analytical tools available helps – a lot.
Great investing requires great data and evidence-based analysis. But there’s something more basic underneath that…
There’s something that determines, right from the outset, whether or not an investor will find long-term success in the markets. And it’s frustratingly simple…
I’m talking about having a process.
Seriously, every successful investor has a process. None of these big shots just shoot from the hip.
Sure, on TV, these high-profile investors might come across as cavalier. But don’t let that fool you… They all have processes. Having a repeatable process is the way to be successful on Wall Street.
I know, I know… This might sound painfully obvious. Or it might sound like a Yogi Berra truism. But I can’t count the number of times I’ve interacted with individual investors who have little to no process. It’s shocking, really.
Think about it…
Most everyday investors have goals. Some even have general workflows. Despite that, the majority of the folks I’ve come across just kind of “poke around” for opportunities.
The truth of great investing, though, is it’s tedious…
It’s so tedious that most mom-and-pop investors often can’t keep up with it. I don’t blame them. It’s a monumental task.
Be honest… Do you have a defined exit strategy for every stock you own? Have you written it down? And is it more than just saying, “I’ll take gains when it feels right”?
What about earnings reports? Do you take those into account? How about insider activity or analyst ratings?
Even after you decide all of that, you have to deal with a deluge of information for every stock in your portfolio. We’ve just scratched the surface. And I bet it already feels overwhelming.
Even if your investing strategy is technical in nature (meaning it’s based on the price action of a stock), you’re still dealing with mountains of information.
Unless you love spreadsheets, it’s probably too much. Most mom-and-pop investors end up making compromises. They rationalize “gut feeling” decision-making.
That might work occasionally. But it’s not a path to consistent success. Again, the foundation of reliable success on Wall Street is having a process…
This is why I developed the “Power Gauge” system.
Yes, my Power Gauge incorporates proven quantitative investing strategies. But in some ways, the most valuable tool it provides is its process.
Take a look at it…
The Power Gauge crunches data on 20 individual factors. And as I said earlier, it does this every single day for more than 5,000 stocks and ETFs.
But most importantly… it outputs clear and actionable recommendations based on those factors. It has a process built into it.
This frees up investors to do what they enjoy most… find exciting investment opportunities.
Imagine a friend turns you on to a small-cap stock. It’s getting almost no attention from analysts. But the story he tells you about it sounds great…
You want to invest. And you’re about to click “buy.” But then, you notice the company’s earnings are just a week or two away.
If you’re like me, just thinking about taking a big hit on an earnings play makes your stomach turn. The stock sounds like a great opportunity… but you don’t want to lose your shirt.
So… what’s your process? How do you evaluate a situation like this?
With my Power Gauge, you have industry-leading quantitative tools at your side…
Using it in our imagined scenario, the answer is simple. You would start by looking at the Power Gauge’s “Pre-Trade Research Checklist.”
Say the company your friend recommended was Camping World Holdings (CWH)…
You can probably tell from the name that this stock has something to do with the outdoors. The company sells recreational vehicles and supplies for camping.
Again, before investing, we want to see what the Pre-Trade Research Checklist has to say. Take a look…
The checklist makes it clear as day: Camping World is well-positioned right now.
[NOTE: This is just a hypothetical, and not a current recommendation.]
In fact, it’s currently near the top of the Power Gauge’s “Best of the Small Caps” list. This is the kind of setup we want!
We still don’t know for sure that this trade will work out in our favor. There’s no crystal ball for the market.
But we just combined a good story with the best quantitative tools available.
Maybe you’re ready to buy. Or maybe you’re a data junkie like I am… and you choose to dig in a little more. The Power Gauge makes that easy, too.
On the Power Gauge, you can find more of the details behind Camping World’s “very bullish” rating. Almost everything you could want to know is here on this fully interactive page…
This tool makes having a repeatable process easy.
There’s a reason Wall Street has an edge over mom-and-pop investors. Its brightest minds use the best quantitative data available. Then, they use historical analysis of that data to create repeatable processes.
Sure, you could probably recreate some of this yourself… But it would be a mountain of work.
That’s why I left retirement after the 2008 crash. It was painfully obvious to me that the playing field had become lopsided.
I had spent my career developing quantitative tools for Wall Street. But the people who need those tools the most are individual investors.
The Power Gauge and its adjacent features help solve that problem. I’ve packed more than 50 years of Wall Street experience into it.
I designed the Power Gauge to level the playing field between Wall Street and individual investors. And that’s exactly what it does.
Remember, it’s all about the process.
Good investing,
Marc Chaikin
Chris’ note: Wall Street professionals used to pay as much as $5,000 per month for access to Marc’s investing tools. But as he said, these days, he’s focused on helping individual investors get a leg up in the markets…
Earlier today, he hosted a special presentation with that goal in mind. He detailed exactly how his Power Gauge system works… how it consistently finds stocks on the edge of massive upward moves… and how you can use it to optimize your portfolio today.
Plus, he gave away the name and ticker symbol of the No. 1 little stock he’s bullish on right now… AND the No. 1 popular stock you should avoid.
If you weren’t able to attend Marc’s event, you’re in luck. For a short time only, you can catch the free replay right here.