Trading Technique

The Very Basic of Fundamental Analysis

³ Fundamental Analysis

³ The Very Basics

³ Fundamentals: Quantitative and Qualitative

³ Quantitative Meets Qualitative

³ The Concept of Intrinsic Value

³ Criticisms of Fundamental Analysis

³ Business Model

³ Competitive Advantage

³ Management

³ Conference Calls & Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A)

³ Ownership and Insider Sales & Past Performance

³ Corporate Governance

³ Financial and Information Transparency & Stakeholder Rights & Structure of the Board of Directors

³ Customers & Market Share

³ Industry Growth & Competition

³ Regulation

³

In this section we are going to highlight some of the company-specific qualitative factors that you should be aware of.

Business Model

Even before an investor looks at a company's financial statements or does any research, one of the most important questions that should be asked is: What exactly does the company do? This is referred to as a company's business model – it's how a company makes money.

Sometimes business models are easy to understand. Take McDonalds, for instance, which sells hamburgers, fries, soft drinks, salads and whatever other new special they are promoting at the time. It's a simple model, easy enough for anybody to understand

Other times, you'd be surprised how complicated it can get. Boston Chicken Inc. is a prime example of this. Back in the early '90s its stock was the darling of Wall Street. At one point the company's CEO bragged that they were the "first new fast-food restaurant to reach $1 billion in sales since 1969". The problem is, they didn't make money by selling chicken. Rather, they made their money from royalty fees and high-interest loans to franchisees. Boston Chicken was really nothing more than a big franchisor. On top of this, management was aggressive with how it recognized its revenue. As soon as it was revealed that all the franchisees were losing money, the house of cards collapsed and the company went bankrupt.

At the very least, you should understand the business model of any company you invest in. The "Oracle of Omaha", Warren Buffett, rarely invests in tech stocks because most of the time he doesn't understand them. This is not to say the technology sector is bad, but it's not Buffett's area of expertise; he doesn't feel comfortable investing in this area. Similarly, unless you understand a company's business model, you don't know what the drivers are for future growth, and you leave yourself vulnerable to being blindsided like shareholders of Boston Chicken were.