A Peek at Trucking Data, and Then the Stock Surged; Glimpses of Key Figures Can Aid Investors in Truck Stocks, Soybeans, Bed Makers and Others
Just before the stock market closed March 4, an industry-research firm emailed a monthly report on commercial-truck orders to hedge funds and other subscribers that pay the group $1,700 a year for the exclusive service.</br></br>The early peek was worth the expense. The next day, after the bullish truck numbers were reported in the media, shares in truck makers surged, generating a tidy profit for investors who traded on the report in the late moments of the previous session.</br></br>Even as federal, state and congressional investigators examine the preferential release to investors of broad economic data--such as the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey--some investors tap numerous other more narrowly focused and less well-known industry indicators ahead of the rest of the investing public.</br></br>The activity is widespread and legal. Federal securities law doesn't prevent investors from trading based on nonpublic information they have legally bought from other private entities.</br></br>Investment firms can pay anywhere from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars a year for access to a variety of specialized reports, ranging from an index that tracks monthly billings by architecture firms to a weekly report on oil inventory.