The legendary Peter Lynch made famous the "buy what you know" investing philosophy. His purchases of companies like General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Ford (NYSE:F) were catalysts for some of the tremendous gains that made his Fidelity Magellan fund famous. However, Lynch also had another genius quirk: his love for obscure, boring companies.

Here's why grasping this concept can be extremely profitable.

Under the radar
Investing in obscure stocks may seem counterintuitive at first, but that's entirely understandable. After all, it's obvious the real the money is being made in big names like Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and McDonald's, right? The problem is, big money has been made in these stocks, but who knows what will happen from this point forward? Each of these stocks had a great run, sure, but consider that the big boys have already bought into each of these stories heavily. Of Intel's outstanding shares, 57% are owned by institutions -- $68 billion worth. For McDonald's, the figures are 79% and $40 billion.

Wouldn't it be better to find the companies whose great run is yet to come?

That's where the obscure and boring part comes in. We're much more likely to unearth a future Lynch 10-bagger among the names that are not yet household, but will be in a few years. It's not a bad thing if your friends remark, "You bought what?" when hearing of your latest investment.

Lynch, for example, raised a few eyebrows with his purchase of Pep Boys. Many had never heard of the auto-parts store and found the name rather silly. That was fine by Lynch, because it allowed him to get into the stock at bargain prices. Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) is another example of a company that was all but ignored in its early days. Yet an investment in the global positioning system expert five years ago would be worth some 490% more today. (Garmin is still somewhat unknown, but institutions now own about a third of the stock.)

More examples can be found in some of Tom Gardner's Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. Have you ever heard of Quality Systems (NASDAQ:QSII)? How about Laboratory Corp. of America (NYSE:LH)? Don't worry, most people haven't. The former is a medical records software firm, and the latter conducts clinical tests for hospitals.

Boring. Obscure. But Tom recommended them to members about three years ago, and they've since risen 710% and 111%, respectively.

Peter's principles
You can see how unknown companies are more likely to carry bargain price tags than their headline-grabbing brethren. Because fewer people have heard of them, there's less demand for their stocks. Lower demand, lower prices.

But the best part is that as long as a company executes well and continues to rake in the cash, it will attract greater notice. It can't be helped. More investors begin to buy in, driving up demand right along with the stock price.

Tom and his brother David have employed several Peter Lynch principles on their way to outstanding performance in Motley Fool Stock Advisor -- 67% total average returns vs. 25% for equal amounts invested in the S&P 500. You can get a look at their two new picks, plus all their past recommendations, free of charge with a 30-day trial. There's no obligation to subscribe.

This article was originally published on Feb. 17, 2006. It has been updated.

Rex Moore is co-founder of The Sea Monkey Rescue Group and an all-around good guy. He owns no companies mentioned in this article. Intel is an Inside Value recommendation. Garmin is a Stock Advisor choice. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policyon that Internet thingie.