Notes on the concepts and risks behind stocks, checked against official sources.
How IPO over-allotment and greenshoe options work, how underwriters cover their short position when the stock rises or falls after listing, and how the issuer's proceeds change, with hypothetical scenarios.
Why bid-ask spreads widen and available size shrinks outside regular hours, how market and limit orders fare differently, and what to check before trading, with a hypothetical order book comparison.
How economic ownership and voting power diverge in dual-class companies, how new issuance, transfer conversions, and sunset clauses change the split, with a hypothetical voting table and a filing checklist.
How to calculate an insurer's loss ratio, expense ratio, and combined ratio, separate underwriting profit from investment income, and read reserve development and catastrophe losses, with a two-year table.
How a bank's allowance for credit losses reflects expected losses, how delinquency and nonperforming loans relate to reserve coverage, and how provisions hit earnings, with a hypothetical bank table.
How preferred stock differs from common in dividend terms (cumulative, participating), liquidation priority, voting and conversion rights, and accounting classification, with a hypothetical liquidation waterfall.
How a defined benefit pension obligation relates to the plan's assets, why small changes in the discount rate swing the funded status, and which assumptions to check in the notes, with a worked table.
How U.S. earnings releases are filed on Form 8-K (Item 2.02, Exhibit 99.1), how to read the non-GAAP reconciliation, and what to recheck in the subsequent 10-Q, with a filing-structure table.
How deferred revenue from subscriptions and prepayments turns into revenue, why billings, revenue, and cash differ, and what renewal and refund terms mean, with a hypothetical subscription company.
What order backlog includes, how cancellation terms and revenue recognition affect it, and how to split backlog changes into new orders, revenue, and cancellations, with a worked manufacturer table.
Why acquisitions create goodwill, how it is allocated and tested for impairment, what an impairment says about a deal, and why it differs from cash, with a hypothetical acquisition and a notes checklist.
How dependence on a few customers affects results and bargaining power, where to find major-customer disclosures, and how switching costs, contracts, and receivables change the risk, with a worked example.
