Unless you frequent our website, StreetAuthority.com, I’d guess you’ve never heard of David Sterman.

That’s about to change…

Dave has worked as an investment analyst for nearly two decades. He started his career in equity research at Smith Barney, culminating in a position as Senior Analyst covering European banks. David has also served as managing editor at TheStreet.com and director of research at Individual Investor.

When it comes to investing, Dave is practically an encyclopedia. I figure I could pick up the phone and ask him a question about any stock I could think of — and he would be able to tell me something about it.

But it’s more than just general knowledge. Dave Sterman makes some timely and accurate calls. In fact, in one day earlier this month, several of his recent calls came to realization seemingly at once…

• Eastman Kodak conceded that bankruptcy may be inevitable.

• Barnes & Noble acknowledged that it’s losing all kinds of money on the Nook (pushing its stock down 15%).

• Dendreon said that its prostate cancer drug is gaining traction (pushing its stock up 40%).

Of course, not every call Dave makes will be a winner. No one has a perfect track record. But we’ve seen him make money for investors time and time again.

That’s why we gave Dave $100,000 of StreetAuthority’s money to invest however he sees fit. (In a moment I’ll show you an easy way to trade right along with Dave, and even beat him to the punch.)

David Sterman’s $100,000 Portfolio — our newest free service — debuted earlier this month. The premise of this advisory is rather simple. Dave’s only goal is to make investors money.

Dave likes to be flexible. He keeps his eyes open for value — wherever it may reside. He believes a winning hand isn’t just built on large stocks or small stocks or foreign stocks or cyclical stocks or distressed stocks. It’s built on all of them. In fact, the names in his $100,000 portfolio may appear to be quite eclectic.

Indeed, you’d be hard-pressed to spot an investing theme — except for one. These are companies with established track records, market-leading brands, robust balance sheets and attractive valuations.

And so far, that’s paying off.

Since the first issue of $100,000 Portfolio, he has purchased four stocks: Ford (NYSE: F), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) and Hasbro (NYSE: HAS). All four recommendations are showing gains already, and Dave makes solid cases for each pick.

But the bigger story is the one that got away…

On Thursday, Jan. 5, Dave announced that he would be adding carbon-fiber maker Zoltek (Nasdaq: ZOLT) to his portfolio. Dave cited what he viewed as a favorable risk/reward setup based on recent sales trends and the fact that the company has been trading below its tangible book value. In other words, as Dave noted, “If you wanted to build a carbon-fiber business from scratch today, you’d do it cheaper by simply buying this company.”

As many of you know, StreetAuthority gives readers a 48-hour lead time on stock purchases for any of its real-money portfolios in order to avoid any conflict of interest. StreetAuthority’s readers are free to act on a recommendation immediately — but we aren’t. And those who did act quickly on Dave’s recommendation are smiling right now.

Here’s what happened…

That Thursday, Dave said he’d be buying about 1,000 shares of Zoltek the following Monday, Jan. 9. At the time, the stock was trading at about $7.70 a share.

By the time Monday rolled around, Zoltek shares had spiked roughly 10%.

That move obviously proved to be an excellent development for many of Dave’s followers, and a happy dilemma for Dave himself. In the end, Dave told his readers he would wait for a more attractive entry point in light of the big gain, if in fact the stock ever retreats to early January levels.

Action to Take –> If you’re not already following Dave’s newest advisory, then I’ll make it easy for you. Simply follow this link to be notified by email each time Dave publishes a new pick or update for David Sterman’s $100,000 Portfolio. This service is absolutely free. We can’t say how long we’ll make this offer, so even if you think you might be interested, I’d take advantage.

P.S. — As I was saying, all four of Dave’s recommendations are showing gains already. Below is a snapshot of what his $100,000 real-money portfolio looks like as of January 24, 2012. Remember that you can follow alongside this unique advisory for free. Simply follow this link to sign up.