Editor's note: Having access to the best data can give you an unparalleled edge...

Marc Chaikin, the founder of our newest corporate affiliate Chaikin Analytics, realized the importance of parsing the data early in his Wall Street career. And he created his "Power Gauge" system to provide everyday investors with an analytical way to navigate the markets.

But according to Marc, there's something else that might be even more important than the data... It's a simple step that can determine your long-term investing success.

In today's Masters Series, Marc explains the basic concept that allows Wall Street pros to make consistently great calls... reveals why it makes such a big difference for individual investors... and walks us through a sample trading scenario using the Power Gauge...

Pro Investors Do This... Amateurs Don't (But They Should)

By Marc Chaikin, editor, Power Gauge Investor

The culmination of my career is now available to individual investors...

Now, my life's work – the tools I made for Wall Street professionals – is 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 outputs 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 very same analytical tools I developed for Wall Street.

Heck, as I've said several times here over the past few weeks, Bloomberg built my "Chaikin Money Flow" indicator into its world-famous trading terminal. And 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 be boastful... I am proud of how well it has come together.

Recently, I've written a lot about my system here in the Digest. I've detailed how the model works... some of the calls I've made using it... and why I decided to pivot from helping Wall Street to helping mom-and-pop investors.

But there's something that we still need to talk about... 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, too...

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 a process. Having a repeatable process is simply 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. And some even have a general workflow. Despite that, the majority of the folks I've come across just kind of "poke around for opportunities."

The truth of great investing is that it's tedious...

In fact, it's so tedious that most mom-and-pop investors simply 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? Is it written down? And is it more than just saying, "I'll take gains when it feels right"?

Even after you decide all of that, you have to deal with a deluge of information for every stock in your portfolio. The world doesn't just stop when you buy a stock.

What about earnings reports? Do you take those into account? How about insider activity or expert analyst ratings?

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 the stock), you're still confronted with mountains of information.

Unless you love spreadsheets, it's probably too much. And 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 this...

The Power Gauge crunches data on 20 individual factors. And like 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. The Power Gauge has a process built into it.

This frees up individual investors to do what they enjoy most... find exciting investment opportunities.

Imagine that 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. Your friend made the stock sound 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 our Power Gauge, you have industry-leading quantitative tools at your side...

In our imagined scenario, the answer is simple. You would start by taking a look at the Power Gauge's "Pre-Trade Research Checklist."

Let's imagine the company your friend recommended was Camping World Holdings (CWH)...

You can probably tell that this stock has something to do with the outdoors. A quick Google search confirms that it sells recreational vehicles, as well as supplies for camping.

Again, we first want to see what the Pre-Trade Research Checklist has to say...

The Pre-Trade Research Checklist makes it clear as day... Camping World is well-positioned right now.

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!

Now, we don't know for sure that this trade will work out in our favor. There's no crystal ball when it comes to 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 would want to know is here on this fully interactive page...

Tools like this make 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 to 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

Editor's note: Wall Street professionals used to pay as much as $5,000 per month for access to Marc's investing tools. But these days, he is focused on helping individual investors get a leg up in the markets...

And Marc recently put together a special event with that goal in mind. In short, 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.

If you weren't able to attend Marc's event, you're in luck... For a short time only, we're airing a free replay. Get started right here.