The investor's field guide · Full course
Fundamental research, from the ground up
Read the business. Work the numbers. Challenge the valuation. Build your judgment with detailed chapters, interactive models, and explanations you can play through step by step.
24 chapters
6 modules · 33.2k words
~5 hours with practice
A model and visual walkthrough in every chapter
Work at your own pace. Reading estimates use 180 words per minute plus practice time.
Inside the course · a visual lesson
Visual field notes · Worked example
A better business can still be a worse investment
Index: year 0 = 100. Hypothetical teaching data, not a forecast or market history.
Separate the two engines
Start with a business earning $1 per share and a stock trading at $30. Earnings grow 10% each year, reaching $1.331 in year three. The blue line tracks that operating progress. It answers a business question: is each share earning more? It does not yet tell you what an investor receives.
Watch the price investors pay
The earnings multiple falls from 30× to 27×, then 24× and 21×. Multiplying earnings by those prices gives $30, $29.70, $29.04 and $27.951. Both lines start at an index of 100 so you can compare their percentage changes. The company improves while the shareholder loses money before dividends.
Translate the picture into a thesis
A forecast needs both earnings and a purchase price. Paying a high multiple can mean that substantial future progress is already expected. The right question is not simply whether the business will grow. Ask how much growth your entry price requires and what evidence would justify a different future multiple.
View the chart data
| Period / category | Earnings per share | Share price |
|---|---|---|
| Year 0 | 100 | 100 |
| Year 1 | 110 | 99 |
| Year 2 | 121 | 96.8 |
| Year 3 | 133.1 | 93.17 |
Included with membership
Build your own investment judgment.
Unlock the complete course, interactive financial models, practice answers, and animated explainers, alongside every paid Yield Theory issue.
$15/month or $150/year. No separate course fee.
Your curriculum
MODULE 1
Foundations
Learn what you own and where evidence comes from.
- 01
Think like an owner
Turn a stock-market story into a testable business question.
12 min · Interactive model · Free sample
- 02
Map an industry and its business models
Identify the customer, profit pool, value chain, and real competitors.
13 min · Interactive model · Members
- 03
Find the evidence in US filings
Build your source pack with 10-Ks, 10-Qs, 8-Ks, and proxy statements.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 04
Build an evidence ledger
Separate facts from forecasts, test competing explanations, and resist confirmation bias.
13 min · Interactive model · Members
MODULE 2
The statements
Connect sales, profits, cash, and the balance sheet.
- 05
Follow the dollar through the business
Read revenue, margins, earnings, and dilution without confusing growth with quality.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 06
Revenue is not a bank deposit
Follow a service contract through bookings, billing, revenue, and deferred revenue.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 07
Check whether the earnings become cash
Connect working capital, capital spending, debt, and financial resilience.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 08
The cash conversion cycle
See how inventory and customer payment terms can finance or consume growth.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
MODULE 3
Business economics
Test cash quality, financing resilience, and unit economics.
- 09
Test the quality of earnings
Reconcile adjustments, investigate accruals, and distinguish a warning from proof.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 10
Read the debt before the upside
Build a maturity ladder and test interest coverage and refinancing risk.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 11
Make one customer profitable
Connect contribution margin, acquisition cost, retention, and payback.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 12
Judge the business and its stewards
Test competitive advantages, return on capital, incentives, and buybacks.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
MODULE 4
Quality and ownership
Examine competitive advantages and capital allocation.
- 13
Put the moat on trial
Test switching costs, scale, networks, and pricing power against rival explanations.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 14
Where should the next dollar go?
Compare reinvestment, acquisitions, debt repayment, dividends, and buybacks.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 15
Think in value per share
Track stock compensation, share issuance, and the real effect of repurchases.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 16
Put a price on the expectations
Use multiples and a simple discounted cash-flow model with consistent inputs.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
MODULE 5
Valuation
Build, reverse, and challenge a valuation.
- 17
Normalize before you compare
Choose consistent multiples and avoid peak-cycle earnings and mismatched peers.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 18
Build a DCF from operating drivers
Walk from sales to enterprise value and understand terminal-value dependence.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 19
What is the price already assuming?
Reverse the valuation and turn implied growth into a business question.
13 min · Interactive model · Members
- 20
Make room for being wrong
Build a bear case, test sensitivity, and separate business risk from portfolio risk.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
MODULE 6
The research process
Apply the tools across cycles and keep a decision journal.
- 21
Research a business through the cycle
Separate structural growth from capacity, inventories, and temporary scarcity.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 22
Read an earnings release like a researcher
Bridge reported results, guidance, expectations, and the cash-flow update.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 23
Know what would change your mind
Create observable review triggers and preserve the history of your decisions.
12 min · Interactive model · Members
- 24
Write a decision you can revisit
Bring the evidence together in a one-page memo and a repeatable review routine.
13 min · Interactive model · Members