MyWallSt Academy

In this intensive course, Emmet Savage will mentor you on the investing strategy that he’s fine-tuned over the past three decades.

Modules

Module 1

Introduction 


  • MyWallSt Academy Orientation

  • Welcome to the course

  • The Six Golden Rules of MyWallSt

  • Long-Term Investing, Why It Works

  • The Three Traits of Successful Investing

Module 2

Finding Stock Ideas 


  • Finding Stock Ideas

  • First Look

Module 3

Left-Brain Considerations 


  • Left Brain: P/E Ratio and EPS

  • Left Brain: Enterprise Value

  • Left Brain: Insider Ownership

  • Left Brain: Return on Equity

  • Left Brain: Sales Growth

Module 4

Right-Brain Considerations 


  • Right Brain: Company Culture

  • Right Brain: Competitive Advantage

  • Right Brain: Evangelist Customers

  • Right Brain: Growing Industry

  • Right Brain: Visionary Leader

Module 5

Final Considerations


  • Other Considerations

  • Introduction to the Investing Journal

Module 6

Video Replay


  • Stock Picking Session with Emmet Savage

Module 1 - Introduction



1.1 MyWallSt Academy Orientation

During the course, you'll join MyWallSt's Chief Investor Emmet Savage in the digital classroom as he shows you how to find and pick exceptional stocks.

How much is in this course?

There are five modules in this course, comprising of video lessons, interactive PDFs, and further reading.

Please complete each lesson fully and in the correct order:

  • Module 1: Introduction 

  • Module 2: Finding Stock Ideas 

  • Module 3: Left-Brain Considerations 

  • Module 4: Right-Brain Considerations 

  • Module 5: Final Considerations

  • Feedback Session

What is expected of me?

We believe that the best way to learn is to do — that's why this course is an active learning experience.

To get the most out of this course, we recommend:

  • You consume all of the video content in each lesson before moving on to the next.

  • You actively put the skills you are learning into practice alongside or after each video lesson. For example, when Emmet is showing you how to analyze the P/E ratio of a particular stock, you should try to analyze the P/E ratio of a stock on your watchlist alongside him.

The structure of this course means that you do not need to sign into the MyWallSt Academy every day. 

However, we would recommend checking in regularly to the lessons and dedicate approx 20-30 minute each time to the sessions in order to get the most from the content. 

The Stock Picking Checklist

In the first lesson of the second module — Finding Stock Ideas — you will be able to download an interactive Stock Picking Checklist. You have also received the same checklist when you purchased Launchpad. 

This is an invaluable resource that you should use throughout the course to assess companies on your shortlist. 

For the prerecorded feedback session at the end of the course, Emmet and the MyWallSt analyst team will assess and give feedback on previously submitted stock picks.

1.2 Welcome to the course

Welcome to the opening lesson of the MyWallSt Academy stock investing course

In this session, Emmet is going to give you an overview of everything you can expect during the course, including:

  • The key lessons he's learned from the likes of Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch, and how we can apply them to our portfolios.

  • The best places to find potential new stock ideas.

  • And the ten points of data he looks for in assessing whether a company is a good investment or not.

1.3 - The Six Golden Rules of MyWallSt

The Six Golden Rules Of Investing

In this session, Emmet discusses the MyWallSt Six Golden Rules of Investing

The goal of MyWallSt, since its inception, has always been to get the world investing.

If you are a beginner investor or want to take more control over your future, then our Six Golden Rules are the perfect starting point for your investment journey.

The Six Golden Rules are: 

  1. Get Started
  2. Think Long-Term
  3. Never Borrow to Buy
  4. Diversify
  5. Buy What You Believe In
  6. Invest What You Can, When You Can

1.4 Long Term Investing, Why It Works

Long Term Investing, Why It Works

In this session, Emmet discusses:

  • Why he believes long term investing is the number one way for anybody to acquire wealth — regardless of location, education, or financial situation.

  • The historical probability of a long term investor in the U.S. stock market losing money (this might surprise you!).

  • Why stocks are the most productive assets that you can invest in. 

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What worries, if any, do you have about investing?

  • What are your experiences of investing so far — good and bad?
Further Reading & Resources:

1.5 The Three Traits of Successful Investing

The Three Traits of Successful Investing

In this lesson, Emmet discusses the three traits you need to become a successful investor:

  1. Patience

  2. Discipline

  3. Curiosity

He also uses the example of one of the best investments you could have made in the past 40 years to show how each of these three traits is vital for long-term success. 

Any guesses of what company it might be?

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What do you think it takes to be a successful investor? Would you add any traits to Emmet's list (or take any away)?

  • What experiences can you take from your own life to apply to your investing strategy?

  • Have there been times when your patience or discipline has been challenged in the past while investing?

  • What companies/products/industries you are most curious about right now?

Module 2 - Finding Stock Ideas



2.1 Finding Stock Ideas

Finding Stock Ideas

In the first lesson of the second module, Emmet starts getting down to the real specifics of how he finds, analyses, and picks outstanding investment opportunities, including:

  • Why you don’t need to be an accountant to know how to financially analyze companies.

  • How the power of the consumer can help you to find some of the best investments.

  • A comprehensive list of research tools to help you find new opportunities.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Do you think you are more analytical in your stock picks or do you choose more from the heart? Are you more Steve Vai or Rory Gallagher?

  • What companies do you interact with every day? Why do you like using their products and what does that say about the company?

  • Do you have any other examples of good sources for information on companies? Why do you think they’re good sources?

  • Alternatively, can you think of anywhere that would be a poor or questionable source? Why are you wary of the information from these sources?

Further Reading and Research

As you work through this course, you'll be asked to assess companies on your own shortlist alongside Emmet. Use the MyWallSt Academy Stock Picking Checklist to take down your notes and log your stock picks.

The MyWallSt Stock Picking Checklist
Download
Download our 'Finding Stock Ideas' resource list here
Download

2.2 First Look

First Look

In this lesson, Emmet shows us how to refine our watchlist of stocks using his five-minute first look strategy on Yahoo Finance. The five things we're looking out for are:

  • If the company is public or private.

  • If it's public, what exchange it is listed on?

  • Its market cap.

  • Its historical share price graph.

  • What the company does and what industry it is in.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What thoughts do you have on Emmet’s first look strategy?
     
  • How does the strategy differ from what you’ve done before or what you’ve heard of before?

Further Reading and Resources:

Module 3 - Left Brain Considerations 



3.1 Left Brain: P/E Ratio and EPS

Left Brain: P/E Ratio and EPS

It's time now to get stuck into the left brain — or quantitative — part of our analyses.

This is where we also start to get into the nitty-gritty of our stock picking checklist.

In this lesson, Emmet shows us:

  • Where to find a company's price-to-earnings (P/E) Ratio and how to interpret it.

  • Where to find a company's earnings-per-share (EPS) and how to interpret it.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Would it concern you as an investor if a company was not profitable?

  • Are there any companies on your watchlist currently that are not profitable but still look like good investments?

3.2 Left Brain: Enterprise Value

Left Brain: Enterprise Value

Next up, Emmet shows us how to find and interpret the Enterprise Value of a company:

  • Enterprise Value = Market Cap + Debt - Cash.

  • Enterprise Value allows you to accurately value a company by including the amount of cash and debt a company has on its books.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Have you ever taken cash and debt into consideration before when analyzing a company?

  • Would you ever invest in a company that had more debt than cash?

3.3 Left Brain: Insider Ownership

Left Brain: Insider Ownership

Insider ownership is one of the biggest things Emmet looks out for in a potential investment. In this lesson, we discover:

  • Why insider ownership can show the level of belief that the management team has in the company.

  • The ideal percentage of insider ownership we should look for.

  • What insiders buying stock and insiders selling stock really mean.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • How important is it to you that the management team has a big stake in the company they manage? Do you think it's possible to effectively run a company you don't have a significant stake in?

  • Have you ever invested in a company after noticing that insiders had bought a lot of shares recently?

  • Would you worry if you saw insiders selling shares?

Further Reading and Resources:

3.4 Left Brain: Return on Equity

Left Brain: Return on Equity

Return on Equity, or ROE, is a way to measure how efficient a company is at generating a return based on the investment it's received from shareholders.

  • ROE = Net Income/Shareholder Equity.

  • Anything above 20% is usually regarded as great.

  • It's always important to compare a company's ROE to other companies of a similar size and ones in the same industry.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Are there any companies on your watchlist with an exceptional ROE?

  • Are there any companies on your watchlist with a lower ROE than expected? Does that change your feelings toward the company?

3.5 Left Brain: Sales Growth

Left Brain: Sales Growth

Not all good investments are profitable yet, but all companies should at least be making money. In this lesson, we look at sales growth: 

  • Sales growth tells us a lot about the company's wider growth trajectory.

  • Other metrics are affected by sales growth like free cash flow and its path toward profitability.

  • You can find sales growth statistics in Yahoo Finance or on a company's investor relations page (to access an investor relations page, all you need to do is search "COMPANY NAME + IR").

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What is more important to you as an investor? Sales growth or profitability?

  • How important do you consider other factors — like sales and marketing expenses, for example — in assessing sales growth?

Module 4 - Right Brain Considerations 



4.1 Right Brain: Company Culture

Right Brain: Company Culture

Now it's time to move on to the right brain — or qualitative — part of our analyses.

In this lesson, Emmet introduces the idea of company culture and how it can tell us a lot about the company as a potential investment:

  • Why company culture should matter to investors from a personal point of view.

  • The reasons why company culture can affect the overall performance of a company and its stock.

  • The free resources you can use to assess company culture.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What does good company culture look like to you? Can you think of any examples of good or bad company culture?

  • What would a culture “red flag” be for you? Is there anything that would totally put you off investing in a company?

  • Personally, does it really matter to you if a company has a bad culture as long as its stock still performs well?  

Further Reading and Resources:

4.2 Right Brain: Competitive Advantage

Right Brain: Competitive Advantage

In this lesson, Emmet explains the five different types of competitive advantage that he looks for in a great investment:

  • First-Mover Advantage.

  • A Powerful Brand.

  • Patents and Trademarks.

  • Industry Complexity.

  • Technological Advantage.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Which of these five competitive advantages do you believe is the most powerful? Which do you believe is the least powerful?

  • Can you think of some of your favorite companies and figure out what competitive advantage they have?

  • Can you think of any other notable first-mover companies?

  • Think of your favorite companies again. What words come to mind when you think of their brands?

  • Are there any other types of competitive advantages you would add to this list? Why?

Further Reading and Resources:

4.3 Right Brain: Evangelist Customers

Right Brain: Evangelist Customers

Companies with the best products or services on the market often have evangelistic customers that can't stop talking about them. This could be a massive green light for a great investment.

  • If the customers are happy, the company is benefiting from indirect marketing.

  • You can use review sites like Trustpilot or Google Reviews to collect customer feedback on a company's products or services.

  • Negative customer reviews shouldn't be taken as an instant no-go. Some larger companies will inevitably get bad reviews, as well as companies in specific industries like telecoms.

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • Are you an evangelist customer for any particular brands? If so, what makes you so loyal? Are you an investor in that company?

  • Can you think of any other industries that tend to get negative customer reviews across the board?

Further Reading and Resources:

4.4 Right Brain: Growing Industry

Right Brain: Growing Industry

To find the companies that are going to be the big winners of the next ten years, we need to think about all the ways the world is going to change in the next ten years too. 

Finding a company that's leading the way in a growing industry could well be a life-changing investment for you:

  • Take a look around you and tune in to what people are talking about (i.e., the EV industry).

  • Questions to answer
    • What is the total addressable market?
    • What is the expected CAGR of the industry?
    • Are there any regulatory roadblocks appearing on the horizon?

  • Industries that Emmet is keeping an eye on:
    • Edtech, Fintech, Medtech
    • Blockchain and Web3
    • SaaS
    • CRISPR
    • The New Space Race

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What industries or sectors do you think will be some of the big winners of the next 10 years?

  • Are there any industries that are already quite large that you think have the potential to keep on growing?

  • Which industries today do you think will be defunct in 10 years' time?

4.5 Right Brain: Visionary Leader

Right Brain: Visionary Leader

The last thing that Emmet assesses from a right-brain point-of-view is the leadership team at the helm of the company. 

  • You can use Glassdoor to see how company employees rate their CEO and leadership team.

  • You can check how much of a stake company insiders hold in Yahoo Finance.

  • Other things to look out for include:
    • If the CEO is a co-founder.
    • If they have relevant experience?
    • What is their track record?
    • Were they brought in for a turnaround?

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • In your opinion, who is the most influential CEO of all time?

  • Can you think of any leadership “red flags” that might make you reconsider investing in a company, even if a lot of the other signs were positive?

  • Now that we’ve finished the section on the Right Brain, do you think you are more of a Left or Right Brain thinker?

Further Reading and Resources:

Module 5 - Other Considerations 



5.1 Other Considerations

Other Considerations:

By now, you should have assessed the companies on your watchlist from a left-brain and right-brain perspective. But before you hit that 'Buy' button, there are a few more things to consider:

  • Does the company fall within or outside your Circle of Competence?

  • Has it been a public company for more than two quarters?

  • Does this company diversify my portfolio?

  • Am I committed to holding on to this company long-term, even during times of volatility?

Questions To Ask Yourself:

  • What things are in your Circle of Competence right now? Just as importantly, what areas do you think are outside your circle of competence?

  • Do you think it's prudent to wait for two quarters to invest in a company after it goes public?

  • Do you plan diversification into your portfolio? How many stocks do you intend to target?

  • What questions do you ask yourself before you sell a stock?

Further Reading and Resources:

Your MyWallSt Stock Picking Checklist
Download

5.2 Introduction to the Investing Journal

Introduction to the Investing Journal

While you’re all busy researching your companies, Emmet touches on something else that is crucial to his investing strategy — his investing journal.

In this investing journal, you can track:

  • Your investing goal.

  • The Key Decision Questions that feed into every buy and sell decision.

  • The Notes section is where you can keep track of ideas, companies to research, and any thoughts that might be influencing your decisions.

Question To Ask Yourself:

  • Have you ever kept track of your investment decisions before? If so, what did you learn from it?

Further Reading and Resources:

Your MyWallSt Investing Journal
Download

6.0 REPLAY: Stock Picking Session with Emmet Savage

Catch up on Emmet's feedback stock-picking session

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