Frequently Asked Questions
What is your macro view?
Irrelevant. Left Brain focuses its investment research process on finding companies with strong and durable business models that can operate successfully, even in weakened macro environments. Once we find those companies, we decide what securities offer the best appreciation potential, whether that be through equities or some type of fixed income investment.
How do you choose which businesses/companies to evaluate?
We don’t follow every company. However, we do follow more than 1,000 companies using a combination of quantitative, technical and deep dive fundamental analysis. You can learn more about our investment process here.
Will you post updates on every name you cover?
Left Brain produces earnings updates on selected names under our coverage. However, there will be times when we produce a report on a name and later determine that our interest in that company has come to a close. The Left Brain Investment Research product is the same research used by Left Brain’s other successful investment management businesses (i.e. Left Brain Capital Management and Left Brain Wealth Management). We won’t just cover a business because its name appears in the Wall Street Journal daily. Our decisions of what to cover have a clear investment motivation.
When are reports released?
We release our list of completed reports weekly, after each Friday market close.
How many reports per week are created?
Generally, some number between 3 and 6 long-form reports are generated by the Left Brain Research Team each week. However, from time to time, there will be weeks when the number of reports falls outside this range. The Chosen Stocks and Bonds is a monthly report.
Do you cover 144a Bonds?
Yes.
We’d Buy, We’d Hold, We’d Sell
We invest in an investment security when it is more attractive than one of our current holdings. We are long-term investors. We sell when we come across a new investment opportunity that is more attractive than one of our current holdings.
How can I track the performance of your recommendations?
Because we look at our holdings in a portfolio context, we tend not to look at each recommendation in isolation. For that reason and other compliance considerations, we will not track the performance of individual recommendations on this site. However, you can track the performance of our private partnership portfolio which uses the same general investment strategies as those described on this site, here.
How often do you update your reports and is there any kind of a notification?
We update existing reports on an as-needed basis. Subscribers can sign up for an email alert when we release new reports.
Can I request reports on certain securities?
Not as yet, but we may introduce this feature in the future if there is enough demand.
How many users can access the reports on one login?
Per our Terms and Conditions of Use, a subscription is required for each user accessing our research. Login sharing is not permitted. If you have questions about multiple users and logins, please contact us.
Can I get a refund if I am not satisfied?
No. We offer multiple subscription options to meet your needs. For example, if you’re not ready to sign up for the standard 1-year subscription, start with the month-by-month subscription option. And if you do decide on the annual subscription, it is billed quarterly, so you can cancel at anytime and you will not be billed for any future quarters that you have not already started. We put a significant amount of time, technology and expertise into our research, and we are not in the business of giving it away for free.
Do you segregate the reports by market sectors?
We have tagged each report to make them searchable by sector and keyword. There is more information on accessing reports by sector and by keyword on the Stock Reports and Bond Reports pages of this site.
Can I just receive buy recommendations?
No. Often times we produce reports on companies that we evaluate as a sell/hold because they help inform our views of the securities that we ultimately rate “Buy.” LBIR clients receive the research that we use in making all client investment decisions, which means Buy/Sell/Hold decisions are all of equal importance. However, subscribers can access The Chosen Stocks and Bonds—this is essentially a top ideas list.
What’s the most important metric used when evaluating a security?
Left Brain uses a variety of metrics in evaluating securities. On the equity side, we search for companies with high (and potentially accelerating) revenue growth and gross margins. For fixed income, we seek companies with improving balance sheets, a yield/turn of leverage score of 2+, and predictable Free Cash Flow.
What qualifications do the authors of these reports have?
Our research team has many years of investment experience. Bios are available here. Additionally, all of our analysts have been trained in the unique Left Brain investment style, which is detailed and differentiated from other research processes in the marketplace.
My custodian already posts free reports. What value add do you offer that would attract me to pay for your reports?
Our reports are unique, and we actually use them to select investments for our successful investment management businesses. Many of the names that interest us are not covered adequately by Wall Street firms. Therefore, our research reports are differentiated and highly valuable in selecting attractive investment opportunities.
Additionally, and maybe more importantly, we provide the reader with incisive, opinionated analysis. We don’t have investment banking clients to worry about if we give a business a low rating. You will see the unvarnished perspective of an investment team that makes buy side investment decisions on a daily basis.