Michael Murray: Sometimes, with a little legwork, the private investor can get ahead of his institutional counterparts

Modern technology has been a boon to private investors, facilitating as it has access to as much information as, historically, only institutional investors had.

Investor relations websites are now universally accessible. The internet also facilitates conference calls between top management and plugged in investors. And the analysts' question and answer sessions with management can be played back, with a text version often on the site as well. So the playing field for institutional ...