morning-note

Morning Note

Workflow

Step 1: Overnight Developments

Scan for relevant events across coverage universe:

Earnings & Guidance

• Any coverage companies reporting overnight or pre-market?
• Earnings surprises (beat/miss on revenue, EPS, key metrics)
• Guidance changes (raised, lowered, maintained)

News & Events

• M&A announcements or rumors
• Management changes
• Product launches or regulatory decisions
• Analyst upgrades/downgrades from competitors
• Macro data or policy changes affecting the sector

Market Context

• Overnight futures / pre-market moves
• Sector ETF performance
• Relevant commodity or currency moves
• Key economic data releases today

Step 2: Morning Note Format

Keep it tight — a morning note should be readable in 2 minutes:

[Date] Morning Note — [Analyst Name] [Sector Coverage]

Top Call: [Headline — the one thing PMs need to hear]

• 2-3 sentences on the key development and why it matters
• Stock impact: price target, rating reiteration/change

Overnight/Pre-Market Developments

• [Company A]: One-line summary of earnings/news + our take
• [Company B]: One-line summary + our take
• [Sector/Macro]: Relevant sector-wide development

Key Events Today

• [Time]: [Company] earnings call
• [Time]: Economic data release (expectations vs. our view)
• [Time]: Conference or investor day

Trade Ideas (if any)

• [Long/Short] [Company]: 1-2 sentence thesis + catalyst
• Risk: What would make this wrong

Step 3: Quick Takes on Earnings

If a coverage company reported, provide a quick reaction:

Our Take: 2-3 sentences — is this good or bad for the stock? Does it change our thesis?

Action: Maintain / Upgrade / Downgrade rating? Adjust price target?

Step 4: Output

• Markdown text for email/Slack distribution
• Word document if formal distribution is needed
• Keep to 1 page max — PMs and traders won't read more

Important Notes

• Be opinionated — morning notes that just summarize news without a view are useless
• Lead with the most important thing — don't bury the headline
• "No news" is a valid morning note — say "nothing material overnight, maintaining positioning"
• Distinguish between actionable events (earnings, M&A) and noise (minor analyst notes, non-events)
• Time-stamp your takes — if you're writing at 6am, note that pre-market may change by open
• If you're wrong, own it in the next morning note — credibility matters more than being right every time