Free stock research journal template: record your thesis and track what changes

Download the journal#

The PDF is designed for printing. The workbook is for entering and revisiting your notes. Its percentage-change cells calculate from the prior and current inputs; they do not judge whether a company deserves investment.

Both downloads use Northstar Components and the fictional ticker NSCHLBM. Northstar is not a real listed security, and every date and figure in its example is illustrative. The workbook's fictional exchange label is part of the example, not a listing claim.

Start with one reason and one source#

Record the exact company, ticker and date. Explain why it reached your attention, then link the direct source that supports the claim.

Northstar's entry says it announced a cooling module for data centres. A real company's product release could establish that a launch happened. It would not establish repeat demand, profitability or the future share price.

You can also record the social post or article where you heard the idea. Keep that separate from the source used to verify the business fact. If the original claim cannot be verified, write that down before spending time on a valuation.

Write the business question in ordinary language#

Northstar sells components to data-centre operators and equipment makers. Our question is whether customers will reorder the module without cash collection getting worse.

That tells us what to investigate. “Will this stock go up?” does not tell us which filing, note or operating measure to read. A useful question can still have an uncertain answer.

Leave fields blank when the information is unavailable. A short, honest entry is more useful than a completed template containing guesses.

Choose four useful measures#

The example compares matching quarters and their period-end receivables balances. Amounts below are US dollars in millions.

Here, free cash flow means operating cash flow less capital expenditure. Real companies may define it differently. Receivables growing faster than revenue prompts questions about payment terms, shipment timing and collectability; it does not establish the cause by itself.

These measures are editable because not every business needs the same four. Banks, insurers and pre-revenue businesses need particular care. Add the source and period so the numbers can be checked later.

In the workbook, use a percent unit for margin inputs and enter percentages as Excel percentages, such as 36%. The change then shows percentage points. Other rows calculate relative growth. A zero prior value produces “n.m.” because ordinary percentage growth is not meaningful. For a negative starting value, explain the absolute change instead of treating the calculated growth rate as a normal growth comparison.

Keep valuation and the counter-case visible#

Record a valuation shorthand only when you have appropriate, consistently defined inputs. Northstar's example has no share price, market capitalisation or earnings-per-share input, so valuation stays “not checked”.

The counter-case is that launch orders may not repeat and customers may be taking longer to pay. This is a possibility to investigate, not an assertion that late payment has occurred. The distinction stops a research concern becoming an invented fact.

If you need a fuller record, add the assumptions that would support or weaken your valuation. Our investment-thesis guide explains how to make those assumptions testable.

Finish with a research action#

Use Deepen when available evidence justifies more work now, Watch when a future disclosure could answer a defined question, or Drop when the idea no longer deserves attention. These labels manage research, not trades.

Northstar is Watch. The next quarterly report should be checked for repeat orders, module revenue, receivables and cash flow. A ten-minute first entry is an optional timebox, not a promise that a company can be understood in ten minutes.

Add an update without changing the original entry#

The downloads include a later fictional update: module revenue reaches US$50.000m, three of five launch customers reorder and free cash flow reaches US$39.000m. One customer supplies 44.0% of module sales.

That strengthens part of the original case while adding a concentration question. Append the date, source, what changed and what remains unresolved. Do not rewrite the initial entry as though the later result was obvious.

The observation guide follows this same example through the next checkpoint. If you later choose to invest independently, the post-purchase checklist shows how to preserve and review the purchase-date reasoning.