A 5-Step Workflow for Researching a Stock With Public Filings

A repeatable process for using insider filings, 13F holdings, Congress trades and company reports together, instead of reacting to a single headline.

Public filings are most useful when they are layered, not read one at a time. Here is a five-step process.

Step 1: Start with the company, not the signal

Before looking at who is trading, understand what the business does, how it makes money and what the last two quarterly reports said. A signal on a business you do not understand is a coin flip with extra steps.

Step 2: Check insiders

On Form 4 filings from the last 6 to 12 months:

• Keep only P (purchases) and S (sales).
• Note who, how big, and whether it was planned (10b5-1).
• Look for a cluster of buyers.
• Check Form 144 for planned sales.

Step 3: Check institutions

Compare the latest two 13F filings for the funds that hold it. See how to analyze the changes. Is ownership concentrating or dispersing? Is there a 13D activist?

Step 4: Check Congress

See whether members of Congress have traded the stock and in which direction, noting the owner and amount range. Treat this as the weakest of the three signals, given the disclosure delay and the mixed research.

Step 5: Look for overlap, then challenge it

The best leads are where independent sources agree, for example insiders buying and funds adding. Then argue the other side: what would make this wrong? Check valuation, debt, upcoming events and the stock's price path since the filings.

What to write down

For each stock, a short note: what the filings show, what the business does, what you think the market is missing and what would change your mind. Notes beat memory.

Where Bourse fits

Bourse puts steps 2 to 4 on one Radar: insider buys and sells (P and S only), clusters, 13F holdings and Congress trades, with the return since disclosure. The thinking in steps 1 and 5 is yours.

Educational information, not investment advice.

Bourse provides financial data and editorial information, parts of which are generated by AI. This page is for general education only. It is not personalised investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument. Make your own decisions.