The Investment Checklist: The Art of In-Depth Research -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1: How to Generate Investment Ideas -- How Investment Opportunities Are Created -- How to Filter Your Investment Ideas -- Using a Spreadsheet to Track Potential and Existing Holdings -- Chapter 2: Understanding the Business-The Basics -- 1. Do I want to spend a lot of time learning about this business? -- 2. How would you evaluate this business if you were to become its CEO? -- 3. Can you describe how the business operates, in your own words? -- 4. How does the business make money? -- 5. How has the business evolved over time? -- 6. In what foreign markets does the business operate, and what are the risks of operating in these countries? -- Chapter 3: Understanding the Business-from the Customer Perspective -- 7. Who is the core customer of the business? -- 8. Is the customer base concentrated or diversified? -- 9. Is it easy or difficult to convince customers to buy the products or services? -- 10. What is the customer retention rate for the business? -- 11. What are the signs a business is customer oriented? -- 12. What pain does the business alleviate for the customer? -- 13. To What degree is the customer dependent on the products or services from the business? -- 14. If the business disappeared tomorrow, what impact would this have on the customer base? -- Chapter 4: Evaluating the Strengths and Weaknesses of a Business and Industry -- 15. Does the business have a sustainable competitive advantage and what is its source? -- 16. Does the business possess the ability to raise prices without losing customers? -- 17. Does the business operate in a good or bad industry? -- 18. How has the industry evolved over time? -- 19. What is the competitive landscape, and how intense is the competition?.

20. What type of relationship does the business have with its suppliers? -- Chapter 5: Measuring the Operating and Financial Health of the Business -- 21. What are the fundamentals of the business? -- 22. What are the operating metrics of the business that you need to monitor? -- 23. What are the key risks the business faces? -- 24. How does inflation affect the business? -- 25. Is the business's balance sheet strong or weak? -- 26. What is the return on invested capital for the business? -- Chapter 6: Evaluating the Distribution of Earnings (Cash Flows) -- 27. Are the accounting standards that management uses conservative or liberal? -- 28. Does the business generate revenues that are recurring or from one-off transactions? -- 29. To what degree is the business cyclical, countercyclical, or recession-resistant? -- 30. To what degree does operating leverage impact the earnings of the business? -- 31. How does working capital impact the cash flows of the business? -- 32. Does the business have high or low capital-expenditure requirements? -- Chapter 7: Assessing the Quality of Management-Background and Classification: Who Are They? -- 33. What type of manager is leading the company? -- 34. What are the effects on the business of bringing in outside management? -- 35. Is the manager a lion or a hyena? -- 36. How did the manager rise to lead the business? -- 37. How are senior managers compensated, and how did they gain their ownership interest? -- 38. Have the managers been buying or selling the stock? -- Chapter 8: Assessing the Quality of Management-Competence: How Management Operates the Business -- 39. Does the CEO manage the business to benefit all stakeholders? -- 40. Does the management team improve its operations day-to-day or does it use a strategic plan to conduct its business? -- 41. Do the CEO and CFO issue guidance regarding earnings?.

42. Is the business managed in a centralized or decentralized way? -- 43. Does management value its employees? -- 44. Does the management team know how to hire well? -- 45. Does the management team focus on cutting unnecessary costs? -- 46. Are the CEO and CFO disciplined in making capital allocation decisions? -- 47. Do the CEO and CFO buy back stock opportunistically? -- Chapter 9: Assessing the Quality of Management-Positive and Negative Traits -- 48. Does the CEO love the money or the business? -- 49. Can you identify a moment of integrity for the manager? -- 50. Are managers clear and consistent in their communications and actions with stakeholders? -- 51. Does management think independently and remain unswayed by what others in their industry are doing? -- 52. Is the CEO self-promoting? -- Chapter 10: Evaluating Growth Opportunities -- 53. Does the business grow through mergers and acquisitions, or does it grow organically? -- 54. What is the management team's motivation to grow the business? -- 55. Has historical growth been profitable and will it continue? -- 56. What are the future growth prospects for the business? -- 57. Is the management team growing the business too quickly or at a steady pace? -- Chapter 11: Evaluating Mergers & Acquisitions -- 58. How does management make M&A decisions? -- 59. Have past acquisitions been successful? -- Appendix A: Building a Human Intelligence Network -- Evaluating Information Sources -- How to Locate Human Sources -- How to Contact Human Sources-and Get the Information You Want -- Create a Database of Your Interviews for Future Reference -- Appendix B: How to Interview the Management Team -- Ask Open-Ended Questions -- Be Aware of the Danger of Face-to-Face Assessments of Managers -- Appendix C: Your Investment Checklist -- Notes -- About the Author -- Index.