Investing
+1
May 7, 2026
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9 min read
The other side of value.
A 2013 paper proposed a simple ratio for picking higher-quality stocks. The math is two lines from the income statement and one from the balance sheet.
Investing
+1
May 5, 2026
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10 min read
When the denominator changes
Yesterday's reclassifications change one of the most-used ratios in equity research. Today, what they do to Microsoft's headline 49 percent.
Investing
+1
May 4, 2026
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10 min read
Amazon's 2020 cash flow, recalculated.
Three reclassifications from a 2021 Counterpoint Global paper, applied to Amazon's 2020 10-K.
Investing
+1
May 1, 2026
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8 min read
What's this newsletter for?
A short answer, and a longer one.
Investing
+1
Apr 30, 2026
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12 min read
96% of stocks match cash. What the other 4% share.
Hendrik Bessembinder pulled every U.S. stock since 1926. Most lost to T-bills. The handful that didn't, share three observable characteristics.
Investing
+1
Apr 29, 2026
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12 min read
The accounting tell.
Amazon shortened its server depreciation life this year and took a $700 million hit. Meta lengthened its server life and booked a $2.9 billion gain. Same workloads. Same chips. Opposite calls. One of them is wrong.
Investing
+1
Apr 28, 2026
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12 min read
What the lawyers knew.
In November 2018, Apple's lawyers added new risk language about China, tariffs, and slowing iPhone sales. Sixty days later Tim Cook cut guidance and the stock lost seventy billion dollars. The warning was already on file. Nobody read it.
Investing
+1
Apr 27, 2026
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13 min read
The conglomerate question.
Saturday is Greg Abel's first annual meeting as CEO. Berkshire is down 14% since Buffett's retirement announcement; the S&P is up 26%. Three academic papers explain why the market vote may be premature.
Investing
+1
Apr 24, 2026
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15 min read
The Playbook, all together
Eight CEOs ran this exact playbook for forty years. The research explains why it works.
Investing
+1
Apr 23, 2026
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16 min read
A closer look at the buyback
Stock-based compensation, and the accounting illusion inside most headline buyback yields.
Investing
+1
Apr 22, 2026
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17 min read
A closer look at return on capital
Return on invested capital is the single most important number in corporate finance. Getting it right takes more than a glance at the financial statements.
Investing
+1
Apr 20, 2026
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8 min read
The best capital allocation decisions look wrong at the time
In October 2008, Texas Instruments announced it was exiting the fastest-growing chip market in the world. A case study in why the academic research said it was the right move.
Investing
+1
Apr 17, 2026
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11 min read
The decisions that look wrong when you make them
Three moves that separate the companies that compound capital from the ones that squander it. A Friday deep memo.
Investing
+1
Apr 16, 2026
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9 min read
The clock on $1.3 trillion
Private equity is sitting on more undeployed buyout capital than ever before. The deployment window is closing, and the academic research says what comes next.
Investing
+1
Apr 15, 2026
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2 min read
The Red Queen Problem
Why the most important number in a company's earnings report is the one they don't disclose.
Investing
+1
Apr 13, 2026
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3 min read
The $30 Billion Question: Are Bank Buybacks Worth It?
Goldman beat this morning. JPMorgan tomorrow. They'll announce tens of billions in capital returns. The research on whether that money is well spent is more contested than either side admits.
