Investables.ai

The Investables.ai blog

Investment research, made practical

Plain-language writing on how to read a stock, why every thesis needs a bull and a bear case, how to read a 10-K, how to compare two stocks and which risk flags to screen for. Educational only, not financial advice.

Research basics

How to Read a Stock in 5 Minutes: A Structured Research Checklist

How to read a stock in 5 minutes: a repeatable research checklist covering what the company does, the numbers that matter, the bull and bear case, and the risk flags.

June 2026 · 8 min read Read
Frameworks

Bull Case vs Bear Case vs Base Case

Bull case vs bear case vs base case: how to build all three sides of an investment thesis, steelman the opposing view, and use the gap between them.

June 2026 · 8 min read Read
Filings

How to Read a 10-K (and What AI Can Summarize for You)

How to read a 10-K: a section-by-section guide to the annual report, the parts that matter most, what to skim, and what AI can summarize to speed up your diligence.

June 2026 · 9 min read Read
Frameworks

How to Compare Two Stocks the Right Way: Metrics That Matter

How to compare two stocks the right way: the valuation, growth, profitability, and balance-sheet metrics that matter, plus a side-by-side worked example.

June 2026 · 9 min read Read
Risk

Risk Flags Every Investor Should Screen For Before Buying

Investment risk flags to screen for before buying: from customer concentration and debt loads to dilution and accounting red flags, with a practical screening checklist.

June 2026 · 9 min read Read
AI in investing

Can AI Predict the Stock Market? An Honest Answer

Can AI predict the stock market? No, and here is exactly why prediction fails: non-stationary data, decaying signals and overfitted backtests. Plus what AI genuinely is good at in stock research.

July 2026 · 9 min read Read
AI in investing

ChatGPT Stock Analysis: What It Does Well and Where It Breaks

ChatGPT stock analysis, tested honestly: what a general chatbot is genuinely good at, where it hallucinates numbers and misses live data, and the prompt patterns that fix it.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Research basics

How Do You Research Stocks? The Full Process, Stage by Stage

How do you research stocks properly? The full eight-stage research process serious investors run before committing real money, from the business model to the tracking triggers.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
AI in investing

How Accurate Is AI Stock Prediction? The Honest Numbers

How accurate is AI stock prediction? Not accurate in any dependable way, and here is why the backtests that say otherwise are misleading, plus what AI genuinely gets right.

July 2026 · 9 min read Read
AI in investing

Is AI Stock Trading Profitable? What the Evidence Actually Says

Is AI stock trading profitable? For most retail traders, no, and this explains why the pitch and the reality diverge, plus the one way AI genuinely improves your odds.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
AI in investing

Should I Use AI to Pick Stocks? An Honest Answer

Should you use AI to pick stocks? Not to choose them for you, but yes to research them faster. Here is the honest split, and how to use AI without handing over your judgment.

July 2026 · 8 min read Read
AI in investing

What Is the Best AI for Investing? How to Judge the Tools

What is the best AI for investing? Not the one that promises predictions. Here is how to judge AI investing tools by what AI can actually do well, and what to avoid.

July 2026 · 9 min read Read
Research basics

How to Write a Stock Research Report (With a Simple Structure)

How to write a stock research report that holds up: the six sections every report needs, what goes in each, and how to draft one fast without cutting corners on balance.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Research basics

What Is an Economic Moat? The 5 Types and How to Spot One

What is an economic moat, why does it decide long-term returns, and how do you actually identify one? The five moat types, the numbers that reveal them, and the traps.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
Research basics

Fundamental Analysis vs Technical Analysis: Which Should You Use?

Fundamental analysis vs technical analysis explained in plain English: what each one measures, when each works, and how long-term investors actually decide between them.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Filings

How to Read an S-1 Filing: What to Check Before an IPO

How to read an S-1 filing before an IPO: what the prospectus contains, the five sections that actually matter, and the red flags worth searching for by name.

August 2026 · 11 min read Read
Valuation

How to Value a Stock: Stock Valuation Methods

How to value a stock, step by step: the stock valuation methods that matter, how each formula works, how to find the value of a share, and which method to trust.

August 2026 · 13 min read Read
Metrics

What Is Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)? A Plain-English Guide

What is ROIC, how do you calculate it, and why do great investors treat it as the single best measure of business quality? The formula, a worked example, and the traps.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Strategy

Growth vs Value Investing: The Difference, and Which Fits You

Growth vs value investing explained: what each style actually means, how the two differ in practice, the evidence on returns, and how most real portfolios blend them.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Research basics

How to Research a Stock Before Buying: A 7-Step Checklist

How to research a stock before buying it: the seven checks that decide whether a company belongs in your portfolio, in the order a professional actually runs them.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
Metrics

How to Read a Balance Sheet for Investing (With an Example)

How to read a balance sheet: the three sections, the ratios that matter, a worked example, and the warning signs investors look for before buying a stock.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
Metrics

What Is a Good P/E Ratio for a Stock? Ranges and Context

What is a good P/E ratio for a stock, the normal range, whether high or low is better, how ranges differ by sector, and why a low P/E is so often a trap.

August 2026 · 13 min read Read
Filings

How to Read an Earnings Report: A Step-by-Step Sequence

How to read an earnings report: what is in the package, the order to read it in, why guidance moves the stock more than the quarter, and a repeatable checklist.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
Metrics

What Is Free Cash Flow? Formula, Margin and How to Use It

What is free cash flow, how to calculate it from the cash flow statement, what a good free cash flow margin looks like, and where the number misleads.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
Risk

How to Spot a Value Trap: 7 Warning Signs Before You Buy

How to spot a value trap: the warning signs that separate a cheap stock from a broken one, where traps concentrate, and a ten-minute check to run before buying.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Metrics

What Is FFO? Funds From Operations Explained for REIT Investors

What is FFO, how funds from operations is calculated, how it differs from AFFO and net income, and why REIT investors use price to FFO instead of the P/E ratio.

July 2026 · 10 min read Read
Filings

How to Read an Income Statement: Line by Line, Top to Bottom

How to read an income statement line by line, what each margin tells you, the difference between operating and net income, and the lines where problems hide.

July 2026 · 11 min read Read
Frameworks

How to Analyze Bank Stocks: The Metrics That Actually Matter

How to analyze bank stocks: net interest margin, deposit mix, credit quality, capital ratios and why banks are valued on price to tangible book value.

July 2026 · 12 min read Read
Filings

How to Read a Cash Flow Statement: The Three Sections Explained

How to read a cash flow statement: what operating, investing and financing activities each tell you, why net income and cash differ, and the warning signs to check.

July 2026 · 12 min read Read
Tools

Bloomberg Terminal Cost 2026: Price Per Seat

Bloomberg Terminal cost: about $31,980 per seat per year, $2,665 a month, dropping to $28,320 at two or more seats. Why it is priced that way, and alternatives.

July 2026 · 9 min read Read
Tools

Capital IQ Cost 2026: S&P Capital IQ Price

Capital IQ cost: about $33,375 per user per year list, $10,000 to $50,000 negotiated. What drives the number, how it is negotiated, and what people use instead.

August 2026 · 8 min read Read
Tools

FactSet Pricing 2026: Cost Per User Per Year

FactSet pricing: $4,000 to $30,000 per user per year by configuration, with two procurement datasets putting the median contract at $20,500 to $25,200.

August 2026 · 9 min read Read
Tools

PitchBook Cost 2026: Pricing Per User

PitchBook cost: reported $12,000 to $20,000 per seat per year, median contract near $30,000 to $31,900. What drives the quote, and cheaper alternatives.

August 2026 · 9 min read Read
Tools

LSEG Workspace Cost 2026: Refinitiv Eikon Price

Refinitiv Eikon is now LSEG Workspace. Cost: about $22,000 per user per year for a full seat, from $3,600 stripped back. Why published figures differ by 10x.

August 2026 · 10 min read Read
Tools

CB Insights Cost 2026: Pricing Per Year

CB Insights cost: verified median contract is $46,984 a year, with real contracts from $24,748 to $184,986. What drives the quote, and cheaper alternatives.

August 2026 · 9 min read Read
Tools

Preqin Pricing 2026: Cost and Pro Price

Preqin cost: around $50,000 a year for a working contract, per three procurement datasets. Why one widely quoted figure is off by 12x, and alternatives.

August 2026 · 10 min read Read
Tools

AlphaSense Pricing 2026: Cost Per Seat

AlphaSense pricing explained: why two procurement datasets disagree by 7x, real per-seat costs, what expert calls add, and how to negotiate the quote.

August 2026 · 11 min read Read
Tools

Morningstar Direct Cost 2026: Price Per User

Morningstar Direct cost: the last price the company published was $17,500 for a first user, back in 2016. What a seat realistically costs in 2026.

August 2026 · 11 min read Read
Tools

Moody's Analytics Pricing 2026: Orbis Cost

Moody's Analytics pricing from two public records: the published Orbis rate card, plus 93 US federal awards showing exact renewal escalators of 4.5% to 8%.

August 2026 · 11 min read Read
Tools

YCharts Pricing 2026: Cost Per Year

YCharts does not publish a price, and the $300 and $500 per month figures everyone quotes describe a tier it retired in 2023. What a seat really costs in 2026.

August 2026 · 10 min read Read
Tools

Visible Alpha Cost 2026: Pricing Per User

Visible Alpha is quote-only, now sold as an S&P Capital IQ Pro add-on. What it costs to budget, who owns it, and why the $500m price everyone quotes is wrong.

August 2026 · 10 min read Read
Tools

Capital IQ Pro vs Orbis Pricing: Filed Rate Cards 2026

Capital IQ Pro and Orbis are the only enterprise company-data platforms with a real filed price list. Read side by side, Orbis costs 3.6 to 5.9 times more per seat.

August 2026 · 9 min read Read

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Informational only, not financial advice · past performance does not guarantee future results