A practical guide to making more informed investment decisions Investors often buy or sell stocks too quickly. When you base your purchase decisions on isolated facts and don't take the time to thoroughly understand the businesses you are buying, stock-price swings and third-party opinion can lead to costly investment mistakes. Your decision making at this point becomes dangerous because it is dominated by emotions. The Investment Checklist has been designed to help you develop an in-depth research process, from generating and researching investment ideas to assessing the quality of a business and its management team. The purpose of The Investment Checklist is to help you implement a principled investing strategy through a series of checklists. In it, a thorough and comprehensive research process is made simpler through the use of straightforward checklists that will allow you to identify quality investment opportunities. Each chapter contains detailed demonstrations of how and where to find the information necessary to answer fundamental questions about investment opportunities. Real-world examples of how investment managers and CEOs apply these universal principles are also included and help bring the concepts to life. These checklists will help you consider a fuller range of possibilities in your investment strategy, enhance your ability to value your investments by giving you a holistic view of the business and each of its moving parts, identify the risks you are taking, and much more. Offers valuable insights into one of the most important aspects of successful investing, in-depth research Written in an accessible style that allows aspiring investors to easily understand and apply the concepts covered Discusses how to think through your investment decisions more carefully With The Investment Checklist, you'll quickly be able to ascertain how well you understand your investments by the questions you are able to answer, or not answer, without making the costly mistakes that usually hinder other investors.
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xix
Chapter 1 How to Generate Investment Ideas 1
How Investment Opportunities Are Created 1
How to Filter Your Investment Ideas 14
Using a Spreadsheet to Track Potential and Existing Holdings 19
Chapter 2 Understanding the Business—The Basics 21
1. Do I want to spend a lot of time learning about this business? 22
2. How would you evaluate this business if you were to become its CEO? 23
3. Can you describe how the business operates, in your own words? 26
4. How does the business make money? 28
5. How has the business evolved over time? 29
6. In what foreign markets does the business operate, and what are the risks of operating in these countries? 30
Chapter 3 Understanding the Business—from the Customer Perspective 39
7. Who is the core customer of the business? 41
8. Is the customer base concentrated or diversified? 42
9. Is it easy or diffi cult to convince customers to buy the products or services? 43
10. What is the customer retention rate for the business? 44
11. What are the signs a business is customer oriented? 46
12. What pain does the business alleviate for the customer? 49
13. To What degree is the customer dependent on the products or services from the business? 49
14. If the business disappeared tomorrow, what impact would this have on the customer base? 50
Chapter 4 Evaluating the Strengths and Weaknesses of a Business and Industry 53
15. Does the business have a sustainable competitive advantage and what is its source? 54
16. Does the business possess the ability to raise prices without losing customers? 68
17. Does the business operate in a good or bad industry? 73
18. How has the industry evolved over time? 77
19. What is the competitive landscape, and how intense is the competition? 79
20. What type of relationship does the business have with its suppliers? 89
Chapter 5 Measuring the Operating and Financial Health of the Business 97
21. What are the fundamentals of the business? 98
22. What are the operating metrics of the business that you need to monitor? 100
23. What are the key risks the business faces? 105
24. How does infl ation affect the business? 111
25. Is the business’s balance sheet strong or weak? 113
26. What is the return on invested capital for the business? 123
Chapter 6 Evaluating the Distribution of Earnings (Cash Flows) 137
27. Are the accounting standards that management uses conservative or liberal? 138
28. Does the business generate revenues that are recurring or from one- off transactions? 146
29. To what degree is the business cyclical, countercyclical, or recession-resistant? 148
30. To what degree does operating leverage impact the earnings of the business? 152
31. How does working capital impact the cash fl ows of the business? 162
32. Does the business have high or low capital-expenditure requirements? 167
Chapter 7 Assessing the Quality of Management—Background and Classification: Who Are They? 173
33. What type of manager is leading the company? 176
34. What are the effects on the business of bringing in outside management? 180
35. Is the manager a lion or a hyena? 183
36. How did the manager rise to lead the business? 186
37. How are senior managers compensated, and how did they gain their ownership interest? 192
38. Have the managers been buying or selling the stock? 202
Chapter 8 Assessing the Quality of Management—Competence: How Management Operates the Business 209
39. Does the CEO manage the business to benefi t all stakeholders? 210
40. Does the management team improve its operations day- to- day or does it use a strategic plan to conduct its business? 213
41. Do the CEO and CFO issue guidance regarding earnings? 219
42. Is the business managed in a centralized or decentralized way? 222
43. Does management value its employees? 225
44. Does the management team know how to hire well? 239
45. Does the management team focus on cutting unnecessary costs? 247
46. Are the CEO and CFO disciplined in making capital allocation decisions? 248
47. Do the CEO and CFO buy back stock opportunistically? 250
Chapter 9 Assessing the Quality of Management—Positive and Negative Traits 255
48. Does the CEO love the money or the business? 256
49. Can you identify a moment of integrity for the manager? 264
50. Are managers clear and consistent in their communications and actions with stakeholders? 268
51. Does management think independently and remain unswayed by what others in their industry are doing? 275
52. Is the CEO self-promoting? 276
Chapter 10 Evaluating Growth Opportunities 281
53. Does the business grow through mergers and acquisitions, or does it grow organically? 281
54. What is the management team’s motivation to grow the business? 282
55. Has historical growth been profi table and will it continue? 283
56. What are the future growth prospects for the business? 284
57. Is the management team growing the business too quickly or at a steady pace? 296
Chapter 11 Evaluating Mergers & Acquisitions 305
58. How does management make M&A decisions? 305
59. Have past acquisitions been successful? 310
Appendix A Building a Human Intelligence Network 323
Evaluating Information Sources 324
How to Locate Human Sources 324
How to Contact Human Sources—and Get the Information You Want 328
Create a Database of Your Interviews for Future Reference 329
Appendix B How to Interview the Management Team 331
Ask Open- Ended Questions 332
Be Aware of the Danger of Face- to- Face Assessments of Managers 333
Appendix C Your Investment Checklist 335
Notes 339
About the Author 351
Index 353
国宝:绘画 本书特色 《国宝:绘画》(上下卷)中国的绘画艺术源远流长,可以说是伴随着中华文明发展的始终。神话传说中的“史皇作图”、“画螺作画”及神农之臣白阜创画...
羊式思维 本书特色 解密犹太人股市操作的百年经验,讲述犹太人价值投资的99个理念,破译犹太大投机家的股票心理学,传递稳赚不赔的羊市思维和内部消息! 怎样做聪明的...
沃伦·巴菲特--在年度致股东信中隆重推荐!彼得·林奇肯·费雪等投资大师都认可的价值投资观点。高管行为蛛丝马迹,蕴藏价值连城
失落的致富经典 本书特色 我瞧见一个巨大的秘密——生命的秘密。在女儿海莉给我的一本百年古书《失落的致富经典》中,我发现了它。我问自己:“为什么不是每个人都知道呢...
《1块变10块的投资分配法》内容简介:经济形势诡谲多变,通货膨胀,物价飞涨,平均寿命延长……这不再是一个只要储蓄、节俭就能安
《情绪赋能领导力》内容简介:本书分为三个部分,共九章内容。本书关注企业家和企业中高级管理人员的情绪对其领导力产生的影响。企
理性的股票投资 选股.估值与投资组合获利方法(斯坦威) 本书特色 《理性的股票投资》——理性投资必读书《理性的股票投资》从科学的角度全面解读股票市场运行的原理,...
股民必须遵守的88条炒股纪律 内容简介 真正的炒股高手,一定不拘泥手便用什么技巧,也不迷信什么理论、技术和消息,他们追求的是对市场群体心理的高超把握和自己个体心...
山川菁英-中国与墨西哥古代玉石文明 本书特色 ★ 大16开硬精装,带插盒,故宫出版社出版★ “山川菁英—中国与墨西哥古代玉石文明展”由故宫博物院与墨西哥国家人类...
女人理财 本书特色 博多·舍费尔是一位企业家,靠个人努力致富的百万富翁和畅销书作者。作为“欧洲理财导师”,他在过去几年中名气越来越大。从16岁开始他就到了美国,...
股民十大赢家实战系统 本书特色 更丰富的实战系统,*新的实战案例,更透彻的操作分析,一切操作都是从赢利出发,打造属于股民自己的赢家系统!玉名股票操作*新实战案例...
财富的归宿(美国现代公益基金会述评) 内容简介 从卡耐基洛克菲勒,从福特到凯洛格,从索罗斯到比尔与梅琳达·盖茨,美国的各大基金会的影响进入了每一个美国人生活当中...
你的炒股纪律价值百万 内容简介 在古今中外的战场上,要取得战役的胜利,官兵对上级的命令有一条铁的纪律——服从。每一个当过兵的人或正在服役的军人*清楚:①服从上级...
《操盘论道入门曲:看透F10》内容简介:F10是我们操作股票软件时经常接触但又常被大多数人所忽略的地方,其包括的范围很广,例如公
《庄家操盘全揭秘》内容简介:证券市场永远只有赢家和输家,庄家常常就是这个市场的赢家,我们就要向赢家学习,与庄共舞,总之想
“酒田战法”是一切K线形态分析理论的基础,在技术分析领域中占据着十分重要的地位。但与其他技术分析方法或理论一样,“酒田战法
《每天一堂销售心理课(珍藏版)》内容简介:本书总结了众多销售人员的实战案例、工作方法与经验,对销售工作中常用到的销售心理战
《作文有道》内容简介:李海华老师精心讲授语言、外貌、动作、神态、环境、心理、场面精彩描写7大方面20招;题目、开头、结尾、立意
绘画收藏与鉴赏-(全二册) 本书特色 ★ 16开精装,中华工商联合出版社出版★ 总顾问:宋建文,全国工商联民间文物艺术品商会会长、中国古玩研究院院长★ 书画鉴定...
中国历代文物鉴赏:陶瓷卷中国历代文物鉴赏:陶瓷卷前言 序人为万物之灵,在人类漫长岁月的活动中,劳动出智慧,同时创作了生产工具和生活用具,由原始的粗糙阶段,逐渐进...