The Bid & Ask

Quotations, Dispatches, and the Daily Tape

Thursday, August 13, 2026

The Method

Looking at a company six different ways

We score every name through six independent lenses before deciding anything.

No single number tells you whether a stock is worth owning. We look at each company through five separate lenses, and only then weigh them against each other.

  • Fundamentals — how profitable the business is, how fast it's growing, how much debt it carries.
  • Sector trend — whether the industry as a whole is being bid up or sold down. Even a great company struggles in a falling tide.
  • Price action — how the share price has been moving recently. Persistent up-trends tend to continue; sharp breakdowns usually have a reason.
  • Investor sentiment — how convinced the market is, read off volume and price behaviour.
  • Catalysts ahead — whether earnings, guidance, or other scheduled events are imminent, and how the company has handled those moments in the past.
Each lens produces a number between roughly -1 and +1. A negative reading argues against owning the name; a positive one argues for.