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The Complete Stock Research Checklist
Print this. Write on it. Do not open fifteen tabs.
This is the same eight-step sequence as How to Research a Stock Before Buying. That page explains where to look. This page is the boxes.
If you have not funded an account and bought the default index yet, stop and use How to Start Investing. This checklist is for the optional one company you can already explain in two minutes.
Beginner kit: steps 1–3 and 7. Do those before 4–6 and 8.
Company: _______________ Ticker: _______________ Date: _______________
Step 1
1. Business
The question: What does it sell, and who pays?
- Product or service in one sentence
- Customer: consumer / business / government
- Segment that is most of revenue
- How it gets paid (subscription, one-time, ads, take-rate)
Done when: you can explain it in two minutes with the ticker covered. FW 01
Step 2
2. Both sides
The question: Honest case for, honest case against, equal length.
- Bull case written in specifics, not headlines
- Bear case written in specifics — "it could go down" does not count
- Competitor's version of the same story noted
Done when: the bear case is as concrete as the bull case. FW 02
Step 3
3. Worth
The question: What is this price already assuming?
- Current price written down
- What must be true for that price to make sense
- Walk-away price written down
- Optional: run the What's Priced In calculator
Done when: you can say "this only works if X happens." FW 03
Step 4
4. Earnings real
The question: Did the cash show up?
- Net income vs cash from operations, last two years
- Receivables vs revenue — any race
- One-time items and "adjustments" listed
Done when: you know whether profit and cash tell the same story. FW 04
Step 5
5. People
The question: Would you trust them with this money for five years?
- Capital allocation: reinvest / buybacks / deals / dividends
- How they talk about misses vs beats
- Open-market Form 4 buys or sells, if any
Done when: yes, no, or "not enough to size this large." FW 12 / 08
Step 6
6. Risks
The question: What actually kills the thesis?
- Two risks you will not live with, written down
- Company-specific vs rates / regulation / cycle
- Item 1A skimmed; fluff crossed out
Done when: the list is short and would change the decision. FW 13
Step 7
7. Thesis and invalidator
The question: Why own it, and what proves you wrong?
- One paragraph thesis (business + why the price + horizon)
- One sentence that means the thesis is dead
- What you will do if that sentence comes true — decided now
Done when: both exist in writing before the buy. Use the research journal if you want the page laid out. FW 05
Step 8
8. Fit
The question: If this goes to zero, does the account still work?
- Percent of invested assets this would be
- Same bet already owned under another ticker or the index?
- Max size written before entry
- Optional: Position Size calculator
Done when: a maximum size is on the page. FW 06
If steps 1–3 and 7 are blank, do not buy the name. Own the index and come back.
After the boxes
The explanations live on How to Research a Stock.
A filled-in example belongs on How to Analyze a Stock — not here.
Which other framework maps to which leftover question: Which Framework, When?
Optional: run the same questions faster
You can finish this sheet by hand.
Framework 01 and Framework 03 cover the beginner kit (steps 1–3) against live filings and prices. The other twelve wait until 1–3 and 7 are written.
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