Golden Pink Sheets

For almost 100 years, Wall Streetspeculators have perused the Pink Sheets(212-868-7100; www.pinksheets.com),long known as a mixed bag of batteredstocks and microcap companies withdubious pedigrees. But there's somegold among the trash, according toJoseph Mitchell, a California investmentadvisor. Mitchell, who has turnedscavenging the Pink Sheets into an artform, has seen an average annual returnof 16.5% over the past 2 decades. Sincecompanies listed on the Pink Sheetsdon't have to meet tough US regulatorystandards, some solid foreign companies(eg, Nestle) have found a homethere. Finding good companies isn'teasy, though, and getting your hands onthe stock may be even harder. MostPink Sheet stocks are thinly traded andcommissions tend to be high.