If you are making your own market or portfolio management decisions, this is something important you should be aware of, especially if and when you're relying on the advice of your financial adviser.

Do you have open and complete access to all the pertinent information you might need to make those investing or share trading decisions?

Do you know if you have the same access and exact information that the corporate acquirers do for making their own purchase decisions?

You should be able to access and analyze the same information available to takeover experts and corporate acquirers, such as investment bankers, private equity investors, public accountants, and so on. But that would be in a perfect world. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

This, regrettably, is not the case. Only publicly traded information is dispensed to investors and traders in public market securities as well as securities analysts working in the industry. As a result, they have less than complete information available to them when they invest, trade, or in the case of securities analysts, prepare their reports and recommendations.

The information they don't have is often just as important in the development of comprehensive, meaningful valuation determinations. This is not a criticism of public market participants (the financial advisers and analysts), who do not have access to this vital and relevant information. This is a result of securities laws that are outside their control. Still, that does not change the fact that these investment professionals need to do much the same analysis as do those corporate acquirers, who seek to purchase 100% of a company.

As opposed to public market participants, corporate acquirers and their advisers, (pursuant to the appropriate legal documents), have direct access to the directors and executives of the target company. These persons provide detailed responses to all requests for information made by the corporate acquirer, hence providing information that is both in the public domain and not in the public domain. Furthermore, they get access to all documentation in the target company's possession related to its assets, liabilities and historic/prospective operating revenues, expenses and cash flows.

But imagine if you did have much more information...similar to the corporate acquirers. I know of one investor who decided he had enough of this. He set out to level the playing field. He used his more than three decades of business and market experience, combined with some unique market surveys and research to assist those who want to manage their own portfolios and the financilal advisers who assist them; as well as other investors who require independent, unbiased information to help them in their decision-making. He used out-of-the-box thinking, combined with the power of the web.

In the investment world, the Internet is helping to change things and level the playing field. Every week someone comes up with a great idea to harness the capabilities and distributive power the Internet provides.

© Roy MacNaughton, 2007

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By: Roy MacNaughton

Roy MacNaughton is a niche marketer and business adviser. He offers new ideas and insights in his business columns online. His more than 30 years of international experience bring expertise and experience to each client. Learn more at: www.stockresearchddblog.com or at his blog: www.UmarketingU.com