From macroeconomic forces to individual company valuation — how to build an investment thesis grounded in data, not hope. The analytical framework that turns financial literacy into trading decisions.
Module 3 taught you to read financial statements. Module 4 teaches you what to do with them. You'll learn to analyze the economy, evaluate sectors, value individual companies, interpret earnings reports, and synthesize everything into a coherent thesis that tells you whether a stock is worth buying, selling, or ignoring.
Start with the big picture. Which economies are growing? Which sectors benefit? Then find the best companies within winning sectors.
Start with individual companies. Find great businesses first, then verify the macro and sector backdrop supports your thesis.
Two frameworks for finding opportunities — starting from the macro economy or starting from individual companies. When each approach works best, how to combine them, and common pitfalls of each.
GDP, employment, inflation, interest rates, and the yield curve — the five forces that move all markets. How to read economic data releases, what the Fed actually controls, and how the business cycle shapes sector performance.
The 11 GICS sectors, cyclical vs. defensive characteristics, sector rotation through economic cycles, and competitive dynamics (Porter's Five Forces). How to identify which sectors are positioned to outperform.
Discounted cash flow (DCF), comparable company analysis, precedent transactions, and the dividend discount model. How professionals estimate what a company is worth — and where every model breaks down.
Reading earnings reports, parsing management guidance, understanding analyst estimates and the "whisper number," and trading the post-earnings reaction. The quarterly event that moves individual stocks more than anything else.
Synthesizing everything — macro, sector, financials, valuation, and catalysts — into a written investment thesis with defined entry criteria, risk factors, and exit conditions. The capstone exercise for Tier 1.