VISUAL INVESTOR: An Investing Tutorial for EveryoneToday is a wonderful day! I am overwhelmed with positive emotions, like a racer who has crossed the finish line. My first book, The Visual Investor, is out on TradingView. It's written for everyone, from those just starting out in the stock market to experienced investors. You could say you're holding it in your hands now.
The idea for this book came to me a long time ago, thanks to the influence of one person, as well as my invisible teachers: Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Charles Munger, Peter Lynch and Mohnish Pabrai. Day after day, I worked on the content of chapters, charts, tables, and drawings to take you from theoretical foundations to applied knowledge that allows you to answer the key questions of any investor: What? When? And how much?
My motivators, namely you, dear subscribers and the TradingView editorial team, also made an invaluable contribution to the creation of this book. Every kind word, constructive criticism and award in the form of “Editors’ Picks” made me happier and helped me to create further.
Why “Visual Investor”? This is my reverence for the technologies we have come to now. The modern investor has incredible opportunities compared to our colleagues, even from the beginning of the 21st century. Access to companies' financial data has become an order of magnitude easier, and their visualization allows for fundamental analysis to be done much faster than before.
Global financial centers are now much closer to investors from different countries, thanks to the development of local regulation, active work of financial institutions and services. All this has expanded the range of investment instruments and formed a new way of life for our savings.
A modern person may not be a passive observer of fluctuations in the purchasing power of his own capital. On the contrary, he can independently make decisions to increase this capacity, using technology and a systematic approach. Unfortunately, unmanaged savings will suffer the unenviable fate of the hundred dollar bill from the beginning of the last century.
This chart shows how the $100 bill has depreciated since 1914 due to inflation. By the beginning of the First World War, the monthly salary of a highly skilled worker or employee could reach exactly this amount. If your super-rich great-great-grandfather buried a chest of these bills, and you found it, you'd probably be furious with him. Because $100 now is like $2 then. “Dear Grandpa, why didn’t you buy something from that list ?” you might say in your heart.
However, we must give credit to our hero, as the propensity to save is a skill that any investor should start with, and something I talk about in the early chapters of my book. As Charles Munger said, “I was a cautious little squirrel who hoarded more nuts than I needed and didn’t climb into my own pile of nuts.”
The book is divided into three parts, allowing you to start with any of them, depending on your current level of knowledge.
Part One
This part will be interesting to anyone who wants to understand why we need investments, what a joint-stock company and a stock exchange are, how the price and its schedule are formed. Duration of study: 3 hours 15 minutes.
Part two
This part will be of interest to anyone who already knows the basics of stock trading but wants to understand the fundamental analysis of a company's business. Duration of study: 5 hours.
Part three
This part will be of interest to anyone who understands the financial statements of companies and wants to build a decision-making system on the stock market based on this knowledge. Duration of study: 11 hours.
I recommend reading the book “Visual Investor” thoughtfully, with pauses to understand each chapter. It is precisely with this measured pace in mind that the estimated duration of study for each block and each article has been calculated. You can move faster if you like. If you devote 1 hour a day to the book, then after 20 days you will be able to master the entire theory. Don't rush to apply the knowledge immediately you've gained in real life. TradingView has great tools for hands-on research, such as the Market Simulator and Paper Trading, that will help you solidify your knowledge without risking your capital. Similarly, civil aviation pilots train on a flight simulator before their first flight. Remember that your knowledge, systematic approach, persistence and a pinch of luck can transform everything around you. But if you still need my support, I'm here. Yours, Capy.
Part One
1. Investing is the ability to say "no" so that you can say "yes"
The reader will learn that investing is a conscious skill of foregoing immediate spending in favor of greater value in the future, based on strategy, patience, and an understanding of the difference between investing and speculation. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
2. Raising initial capital: 4 approaches, of which one is not good
The reader will learn about four ways to form start-up capital for investments, and why borrowed money is the least sensible of them. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
3. The lifestyle of your savings, and why Big Mac?
The reader will learn that investing is a conscious way to preserve and increase the purchasing power of savings, in which the level of potential profit is always proportional to the risk taken. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
4. What is a stock? Let me tell you a story
Using the example of a shoe workshop owner, the reader will learn how companies issue shares to raise capital and expand their business. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
5. Stock Company. Selling something that no one will buy piecemeal
Using the same example, the reader is explained the process of transforming a company into a joint-stock company and conducting an IPO to attract investment. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
6. I dream of entering the stock market. The question is: What for?
The reader learns that going public is a way for a company to make its shares available to a wider range of investors, increase liquidity, and simplify the process of raising capital. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
7. How is the share price formed on the stock exchange? We do it
The reader will learn how the price of a stock is formed on the stock exchange through the mechanism of bids from buyers and sellers, reflecting the balance of supply and demand. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
8. Bid/Offer: The Yin and Yang of Stock Prices
The reader will learn how buy (bid) and sell (offer) orders from the order book on the exchange, determining the mechanism for concluding transactions and the formation of the market price. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
9. Market order or the hunger games of stock trading
The reader will learn that market orders allow shares to be bought or sold immediately without specifying a price, satisfying the current demand or offer at prices available in the order book. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
10. The birth of the chart. The evolution of the tape
The reader will learn how price movement charts are formed from the stock exchange quotes feed and will see historical examples of the evolution of methods for displaying market data. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
11. Japanese Candlesticks: Game of Body and Shadows
The reader will learn how Japanese candlesticks are constructed, including determining the opening, closing, high, and low prices for a selected time interval, as well as the importance of the candlestick body and shadows in analyzing price movements. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
12. A little bit about volumes and the master of all averages
The reader will learn how to analyze trading volumes and use a 252-day moving average to evaluate stock price movements. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
13. My Three Comrades: the Chart, the Screener, and the Watchlist
The reader will learn step-by-step how to use the TradingView platform's chart, screener, and watchlist features to find and track stocks even if he doesn't know the company's ticker. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
14. Two captains of the same ship
The reader will learn how to use fundamental analysis to assess a company's financial strength by adding financial indicators to a chart in TradingView, and why the author prefers this method over technical analysis. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
Part two
15. My crazy partner is Mr. Market!
The reader will learn about the concept of "Mr. Market" introduced by Benjamin Graham, which illustrates the irrationality of market behavior and emphasizes the importance of fundamental analysis in making sound investment decisions. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
16. Picking rules - the Lynch method
The reader will learn about Peter Lynch's investment principles, including the benefits of private investors, the importance of a financial safety net, the need to understand a company's performance before investing, and the importance of analyzing its earnings. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
17. A pill for missed opportunities
The reader will learn how to set up alerts in TradingView to react promptly to changes in stock prices, thereby avoiding missing profitable opportunities to buy or sell. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
18. Man on the shoulders of giants
The reader learns the story of an Indian engineer who, after starting to invest in his 30s, achieved significant success, emphasizing the importance of self-education and inspiration from eminent investors. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
19. Price is what you pay, but value is what you get
The reader will learn about Warren Buffett's approach to investing based on the difference between price and the intrinsic value of a company, and the importance of fundamental analysis in making investment decisions. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
20. Balance sheet: taking the first steps
The reader will learn about the structure of the balance sheet, including the concepts of assets, liabilities, and equity. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
21. Assets I prioritize
The reader will learn which balance sheet items are most important for assessing a company's sales performance, and why the author focuses on cash, accounts receivable, and inventory when analyzing current assets. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
22. A sense of debt
The reader will learn about the structure of liabilities and shareholders' equity on a company's balance sheet, including the differences between short-term and long-term debt, and will understand how to analyze debt burden when assessing a company's financial health. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
23. At the beginning was the Equity
The reader will learn about a company's capital structure, including the concepts of retained earnings and return on investment, and will understand how these items are reflected in the balance sheet. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
24. The income statement: the place where profit lives
The reader will learn about the structure of a company's income statement, including key indicators: revenue, cost, gross and operating profit, as well as the importance of these metrics for assessing the financial condition of the enterprise and their impact on the dynamics of stock prices. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
25. My precious-s-s-s EPS
The reader learns that earnings per share (EPS) is calculated as net income available to common shareholders divided by the number of common shares outstanding, and that diluted EPS considers potential increases in the share count due to employee options and other factors that affect earnings distributions. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
26. What should I look at in the Income statement?
The reader will learn which key income statement metrics — such as revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, debt service expense, net income, and diluted earnings per share (EPS Diluted) — the author believes are most important for assessing a company's financial health. Duration of study: 10 minutes.
27. Cash flow statement or Three great rivers
The reader will learn about the structure of the cash flow statement, which includes three main flows: operating, financial and investing, and will understand how these cash flows affect the financial condition of the company. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
28. Cash flow vibrations
The reader will learn how to analyze a company's operating, investment, and financial cash flows to assess its sustainability, strategy, and ability to effectively manage resources. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
29. Financial ratios: digesting them together
The reader will learn that financial ratios are relations between various financial reporting indicators that allow an objective assessment of the financial condition and value of a company, and will understand how to use key multiples to analyze the investment attractiveness of a business. Duration of study: 25 minutes.
30. What can financial ratios tell us?
The reader will learn about key financial ratios such as Diluted EPS, Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E), Gross Margin, Operating Expense Ratio, Return on Equity (ROE), Days Payable and Days Sales Outstanding, and Inventory to Revenue Ratio, and will understand how to use these metrics to assess a company's financial health and investment attractiveness. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
Part three
31. Price / Earnings: Interpretation #1
The reader will learn how the P/E (price to earnings) ratio helps assess the value of a company by determining how many dollars an investor pays for each dollar of earnings, and will understand why a lower P/E may indicate that a company is undervalued. Duration of study: 25 minutes.
32. Price/Earnings: amazing interpretation #2
The reader will learn an alternative approach to interpreting the P/E ratio by viewing it as the number of years it takes to break even on an investment, assuming the company's earnings are stable. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
33. How to apply an indicator that is only available upon request?
The reader will learn how scripts written in Pine Script work on the TradingView platform and what levels of access there are to them: from completely open to requiring an invitation from the author. The article explains how to request access to an indicator if it is restricted, and what steps to take to add it to a chart once permission is granted. Duration of study: 15 minutes.
34. How to assess the fundamental strength of the company?
The reader will learn about the approach to assessing the financial stability of a company through the aggregation of key financial indicators and multipliers, allowing a visual and quantitative assessment of the dynamics and current state of the business. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
35. How to evaluate the work of company management?
The reader will learn about the approach to assessing the effectiveness of a company's management through the prism of the concept described by Eliyahu Goldratt in his book "The Goal", which focuses on three key indicators: throughput, inventory and operational expenses, and will understand how these indicators affect the financial results of the enterprise. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
36. How to evaluate the state of a company's cash flows?
The reader will learn about the importance of cash flow analysis in assessing a company's financial health, including the interpretation of operating, investing, and financing flows. Duration of study: 25 minutes.
37. How to catch the rainbow by the tail?
The reader will learn how to determine optimal price ranges for buying stocks based on the principles of fundamental analysis and the idea of investing with a margin of safety. Duration of study: 40 minutes.
38. How to convert craziness into results?
The reader will learn how to navigate market volatility, make smart stock selling decisions, and use a fundamental approach to turn emotional market swings into rational investment actions. Duration of study: 35 minutes.
39. How to use Replay to study indicators?
The reader will learn how to use the Market Simulator feature on the TradingView platform to analyze historical data and test indicators, including step-by-step instructions for activating the simulator, selecting the start date, adjusting the playback speed, and interpreting the results when analyzing NVIDIA Corporation stock. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
40. How to explain my decision-making system?
The reader will learn about the author's approach to choosing stocks for investment, which includes an analysis of the fundamental strength of the company, cash flow dynamics, news, P/E multiple and other aspects of the decision-making system. Duration of study: 35 minutes.
41. The most subjective facet of my decision-making system
The reader will learn how news, although difficult to formalize, influences the investment decision-making process and why its interpretation is the most subjective aspect in stock evaluation. Duration of study: 35 minutes.
42. Full instructions for studying the fundamental strength of a company
The reader will learn how to use applied tools to evaluate a company's financial results, visually track their dynamics over time, and analyze the movement of key cash flows, which accelerates the process of selecting companies with strong fundamental indicators. Duration of study: 90 minutes.
43. Full instructions for determining price ranges for opening and closing positions
The reader will learn how to determine optimal price ranges and trade sizes when investing in stocks, based on the principles of value investing and Benjamin Graham's "margin of safety" concept. Duration of study: 120 minutes.
44. 10 tricks for developing discipline or here was Warren
The reader will learn ten practical methods to help investors develop discipline, including using alerts, keeping a trading journal, and developing good habits, and will understand how discipline affects the achievement of investment goals. Duration of study: 40 minutes.
45. The Inside Out Investor
The reader will learn how emotional states such as fear, excitement, and fear of missing out (FOMO) influence investment decisions and will understand how awareness of these emotions helps an investor stick to their chosen strategy and make informed decisions. Duration of study: 20 minutes.
46. Effective inefficiency
The reader will learn about the different approaches to using Stop Losses in investment strategies, their impact on the profit/loss ratio, as well as the concept of market efficiency and strategies in it. Duration of study: 30 minutes.
47. Institute of Intermediation and 24 Coffee Lovers
The reader will learn about the factors that create market inefficiencies, such as delays in the dissemination of information, high volatility, the actions of large players and participant errors, as well as the role of intermediaries - brokers and exchanges - in ensuring the efficiency and convenience of trading in financial markets. Duration of study: 25 minutes.
48. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The reader will learn about the life of Charles Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, his investment philosophy based on common sense and discipline, as well as his views on the importance of personal relationships and moderation in achieving success. Duration of study: 5 minutes.
