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Random Words from our sponsor, Public.com

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Jason’s Random Words

Earnings season is starting to wind down, and broadly, most of the companies I own and follow did fine, a few did very well, and some didn’t do very good, and mostly — but not all — met expectations. We got some answers to a few questions, ended up with a few new questions (looking at you, The Trade Desk) that need to be answered, but mostly just added a little bit more incremental knowledge and understanding of the businesses we own and study.

And as always, we are looking forward. Riding the hamster wheel of “what will you do next?” It never ends, and either you love the process or you’ll make yourself miserable.

One of the things I do to make the process more bearable and enjoyable, and also as a way to remind myself that speed isn’t an edge that I or any retail investor will ever have, is put off taking a close look at the earnings reports of many companies I own until a few weeks after they report. The exceptions are the ones that I am really interested in, or for professional reasons need to look at quickly.

By making a point to open the filings weeks after they report, I’ve waited until everyone else has already reacted and traded on whatever they reported and projected, and generally after Wall Street’s finest have updated their estimates and price targets.

I literally want to be last to the party.

In many ways, this is incredibly freeing. If I’m not looking at earnings a few minutes after they come out, I can’t get caught up in trying to trade as soon as markets open, to get ahead of whatever momentum is going to do. I have stripped away any incentive to follow or chase a stock higher, buy a post-earnings dip, or otherwise move with velocity.

That’s not my edge. It’s not yours, either. We small-money retail investors have limited advantages, but they are ours entirely.

We know what our financial goals are. We know when we need to reach those goals. We don’t have investors whose expectations we have to meet every quarter. We don’t have a bonus we have to make the most of by some arbitrary date.

We know what our financial goals are. We know when we need to reach those goals.

So I invest in my own time, and in my own way. I use a framework that takes away any incentive to move quickly. But when I do decide to move, I act…well, I act after a couple more days.

So I’ll really do most of my earnings research and thinking in the weeks ahead. I encourage more of you to do the same thing. The good stocks will still be there waiting on you when you’re finished, and it’ll be easier to tell the good ones from the mediocre, and the worthwhile prices from the less-appealing when you remove the pressure to consume and act quickly. At least that’s my experience.

Jason