Value Investing

Value Investing

Use this skill for company research and explicit value-oriented investment recommendations.

Workflow

1. Frame the idea:
   • company
   • sector
   • market
   • why it looks interesting
2. Confirm the data:
   • price
   • valuation metrics
   • financial history
   • peer set
   • recent business context
3. Evaluate in this order:
   • business quality
   • moat / competitive advantage
   • balance sheet and capital allocation
   • valuation vs own history
   • valuation vs peers
   • risks and thesis-breakers
4. Reject weak ideas early if:
   • the balance sheet is fragile
   • the moat is unclear
   • the valuation is not actually attractive
   • a peer is clearly better on both quality and price
5. Produce a short investment memo with:
   • business summary
   • moat and competitive position
   • historical valuation context
   • peer comparison
   • risks
   • explicit verdict: Buy, Avoid, or Prefer peer

Rules

• Default to latest available market context unless the user explicitly asks for historical-only or prior-close analysis.
• Use real data only; label freshness clearly.
• If the user asks for current or today, verify a timestamped live quote before citing market price or market-cap context.
• Always include as_of timestamps with timezone for quote and key valuation snapshots.
• Never frame delayed or prior-close pricing as current.
• If valuation inputs and price come from different times, state the timing gap and reduce confidence.
• Compare valuation to both company history and current peers.
• Be explicit about why an idea should be rejected.
• Research risks, competitive advantage, and moat durability before recommending.
• If a peer has better metrics and outlook, say Prefer peer: {ticker}.
• Recommendations should be specific, evidence-based, and concise.

MCP Integration

If market-data-mcp is available, use it as the default source for market and snapshot fundamental data.

• Preferred tools:
  • get_quote
  • get_fundamentals_snapshot
  • get_estimates_snapshot
  • get_news_headlines
  • get_bars
• Always show:
  • source
  • as_of
  • stale or partial-data flags when present
• Freshness guardrails:
  • valuation and balance-sheet fields must include snapshot timestamp
  • price and market-cap context should be intraday current where possible
• On provider failure (RATE_LIMITED, UPSTREAM_UNAVAILABLE, STALE_DATA):
  • retry once if retryable
  • continue with explicit data quality caveats
  • avoid conviction language when key valuation fields are missing

References

• Read references/value-investing-framework.md before a full write-up.
• Read references/sector-valuation-caveats.md when sector-specific accounting or valuation quirks matter.
• Use assets/investment-memo-template.md for a full memo.