The strategies
behind the signal.

Inspired by Michael Burry's approach to deep, contrarian value investing. The screen hunts for mid-cap and larger companies that generate strong returns on equity and grow sales consistently, while carrying very little debt and trading well below their free cash flow potential. The high current ratio requirement ensures these businesses can weather downturns — the goal is quality at a discount, not cheap for the wrong reasons.

Screening Criteria

Walter Schloss built his career buying stocks no one else wanted — companies trading below book value with clean balance sheets. This screen applies that logic to income-generating businesses: the price-to-book must be below 1, the balance sheet must be lean, and the dividend must be real and meaningful. A positive net profit margin confirms the company earns its keep. The result is a list of unloved, cash-returning businesses that value investors have historically found fertile ground.

Screening Criteria

A growth-at-a-reasonable-price (GARP) screen that demands both speed and value simultaneously. Companies must be growing revenues fast — over 20% annualised for five years — yet still trade at a P/E under 20 and a PEG ratio below 1, meaning the market is not yet fully pricing in that growth. Combined with strong ROE and a conservative balance sheet, this screen surfaces compounders before the crowd arrives.

Screening Criteria

A quality-growth screen modelled on the Motley Fool's philosophy: find businesses compounding at high rates that also turn revenue into profit efficiently. The 20% sales growth hurdle over five years filters for sustained execution, while the 15% net margin threshold confirms the business model is genuinely profitable — not just growing. Low debt and a current ratio above 1 ensure the engine runs without financial stress. This screen tends to produce a larger universe, reflecting how many quality growers exist in modern markets.

Screening Criteria

Benjamin Graham's most extreme value discipline — buying stocks that trade below their liquidation value. A price-to-book below 1 is the starting point, but the current ratio above 2 and minimal debt requirement ensure the discount is real: these are financially solvent companies, not distressed ones. Graham considered net-nets a margin-of-safety play; you are essentially being paid to wait while the market corrects its mispricing.

Screening Criteria

Joel Greenblatt's Magic Formula ranks stocks on two dimensions: how cheap they are (earnings yield) and how good they are (return on capital). This implementation applies strict filters for both — P/E under 15 and EV/EBITDA under 10 for cheapness, ROE over 25% and ROIC over 15% for quality. Low leverage and positive institutional transaction flow complete the picture. The result is a tight list of high-quality businesses bought at genuinely low prices, which Greenblatt demonstrated is a historically durable edge.

Screening Criteria

Joseph Piotroski showed that within the universe of cheap stocks (low P/B), a simple nine-point financial health score — the F-Score — separated future winners from value traps. This screen applies his core logic to small caps between $300M and $2B: stocks must be cheap on book value, financially sound (positive ROA, healthy current ratio, low debt), and showing real operational momentum (positive gross margin and improving EPS). The small-cap focus is intentional — this is where mispricing and illiquidity create the best bargains.

Screening Criteria

William O'Neil's CANSLIM methodology identifies stocks at the start of major institutional-driven moves. This screen focuses on the earnings and sales acceleration components: companies must show exceptional EPS growth this year and next, sustained earnings growth over five years, and explosive revenue expansion both on a trailing and quarterly basis. Combined with strong ROE, these are businesses where fundamental momentum is accelerating — exactly the profile that attracts the institutional buying that drives the biggest market moves.

Screening Criteria

The most demanding screen in the system. It requires companies to simultaneously accelerate on earnings and revenue, sustain high margins across all three layers of the income statement, generate strong returns on invested capital, and still trade at a reasonable price relative to free cash flow. Passing all nine filters at once is rare — the businesses that do are typically in a rare window of high-quality compounding that is not yet reflected in a stretched valuation. This is the screen for investors who want only the sharpest edge.

Screening Criteria