Wouldn’t you love to be a big league investor… even just for a day!?! If you’re reading this, you’re probably not managing billions of dollars, or running leveraged buyouts… but with a little secret I’m going to share, you can access the same information these investing titans use.
More on that in a moment…
First, consider how fun it would be to act like a billionaire investor… You’d get phone calls from Goldman Sachs offering up sweetheart deals. You’d rub elbows with other rich and famous investors, and enjoy the finer trappings of life.
Of course you’d have to work… if you could call it that.
You’d fly first class all over the world visiting your investments. Your “corporate partners” as you’d call them would wine and dine you. Only the best hotels… restaurants… meals… wine… cigars…
You’d have your own private jet… no waiting in line for a TSA patdown.
The moment you land a chauffeur would pull up next to the plane. No waiting for the 300 people in front of you to de-plane. Your black limo would be standing by to whisk you off at an instant to your next destination.
Everyone would watch your every move. And fellow investors would beg for a hot stock tip!
Wouldn’t it be nice!?!
Well, in the real world not everyone can be a superstar investor. All of the traveling could wreck your home life… and the jet lag is a drag – trust me. The fancy meals often come with an upset stomach… and a constant battle losing 5 or 10 pounds!
And the private jet and limo… just wait till you have a losing quarter – your investors will want to string up your hide for misappropriating investment funds!
Look, not everyone can make billions. Not everyone can move markets with their comments.
However, you can look over the shoulder of the greatest investors of all time. You can see almost trade for trade what they’re investing in. You can sit in on those smoke-filled back rooms where the big deals are cut and see exactly what they’re investing in. (Without inhaling all of that cigar smoke!)
It’s easy to do. And it’s FREE!
So while you may not be able to get the ear of investing greats like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or T. Boone Pickens you’ll know what they’re doing. You’ll be able to see what they’re buying, what they’re selling… and if you read between the lines you may be able to figure out what they’re thinking!
How is this possible?
Let me share a secret with you. And to be honest, we have the Federal Government to thank for this inside look at the big boys of the investing world.
See back in the 1930s and 1940s, after the great depression, the government was looking for a way to level the playing field. They were sick of the little guy always getting crushed. One of the big problems back then was big investors secretly taking big positions in certain companies.
When an industry tycoon decided to buy up a local railroad, all he had to do was start buying the stock. Nothing illegal, mind you, but once others figured out what he was doing, they’d start buying too. A stock could shoot the moon overnight.
But here’s where it gets tricky… that same industrial titan could then start dumping his stock and not tell anyone. He’d laugh all the way to the bank as the small guy who bought alongside of him watched the price plummet.
And it worked the other way too.
If some big industry tycoon decided to unload a big stake in a company – even his OWN company – he could do so easily. There were no restrictions.
You can see how this would cause problems… and if left unchecked, it compromised the very stability of the markets. So, congress took action… and the rules changed.
If you are a big player in the market, you have to disclose your holdings. You have to make your filings public. It’s a law from Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934… and it calls for the filing of a form SC 13-D. It sounds complicated, but it’s really simple.
Whenever anyone… and I mean anyone… acquires more than 5% of the stock in a company they must file a “13-D”.
Now, not only do these “Big Investors” need to tell people when they take a big position (more than 5%) but they also have to make another filing if their position changes materially! So if they want to keep buying… or start selling… they have to tell everyone!
But wait – there’s MORE!
It gets even better. These big league investors don’t just need to tell you when they buy 5% or more of a company… every quarter they need to tell you what they hold. This is the famous “13-F” filing.
Here are the specifics – anyone managing more than $100 million must file a 13-F within 45 days of the end of the quarter. They need to list not only the name of the company, but the number of shares they hold, and the total market value.
It’s like playing poker with the other guy playing his cards face-up!
If you want to see what Warren Buffett is buying… take a look at the 13-F for Berkshire Hathaway.
Want to know what Bill Gates is holding? Look at the 13-F for Cascade Investment LLC… that’s Bill’s private investment vehicle.
To see what T. Boone Pickens is buying… you got it. Just look at the 13-F filings by his investment company BP Capital Management.
These documents are a wealth of knowledge. You can see what’s new… what the investors are buying more of… even what they are selling. Now it will take a bit of detective work… but you can also figure out just how much of their investment portfolio is in each security.
Imagine the power you have at your fingertips knowing when investment greats are getting into… or out of… a particular industry. And if they really like a company… and own more than 5% you’ll be able to see that too in the 13-D filings.
You can uncover all of this information yourself by going to the sec.gov website and doing a search by investor name, investment Company, or even by the stock.
I recommend every investor look at the holdings of these big players before ever making an investment. You never know – you may just find out that the very stock you’re considering buying is loved by Warren Buffett!