Picksmith is an independent, subscription-based research publication focused on US-listed equities. Every Sunday we publish one in-depth company analysis: scored, sourced, and generated for self-directed investors who want to do their own homework. Alongside that, members get research tools for screening, comparing names, tracking holdings, watching market calendars, and running everyday portfolio management tasks.
Matthew ChaplinFounder, Picksmith
My name is Matthew Chaplin. I’m 54, and I’ve been in and around the stock market for almost 30 years. Not as a pastime. As an obsession.
I focus exclusively on stocks: no options, no crypto, no shortcuts. I’m a medium to long-term investor, which means I’m looking for businesses worth holding, not trades worth flipping. I spent years inside the finance industry, watching how money actually moves rather than how textbooks say it should. These days I work in data analytics and process engineering, but investing never left. It’s still where a significant part of my thinking goes, and Picksmith is the natural home for that.
I never sat the CFA or any of the standard qualifications. What I have instead is three decades of skin in the game, a lot of hard-won lessons, and a deep respect for what the market can do to people who think they’ve figured it out.
That experience shapes everything about Picksmith.
For a long time I couldn’t find a service that was both honest and useful. Most were either too shallow (a ticker and a price target, no reasoning) or too wrapped up in jargon and models that looked impressive but didn’t help anyone actually make a decision.
I wanted something different. One idea, fully thought through, written by someone who’d been doing this long enough to know what matters and what doesn’t. And a place to dig into the rest of the market with the same clear standards when you are not waiting on Sunday.
So I built it myself.
A few things I’ve come to believe after 30 years:
Most of the noise doesn’t matter. Markets are constantly generating information. Very little of it is signal. The hardest skill isn’t finding ideas. It’s ignoring the ones that aren’t worth your time.
Good businesses are worth waiting for. The best investments I’ve seen, and made, share a common thread: a durable edge, a clear reason to exist, and a valuation that gives you room to be wrong. That’s the framework Picksmith is built around.
You don’t need a finance degree to invest well. Some of the sharpest investors I’ve encountered learned by doing, not by studying. What matters is curiosity, patience, and a genuine interest in understanding how businesses actually work.
Every Sunday, one fully researched US stock idea lands in your inbox. Each edition covers a company I believe has a real edge: the business model, the macro tailwinds behind it, the risks I’d want to know about before investing, and whether the valuation makes sense right now.
Behind that Sunday edition is a screening process that scans S&P 500 and liquid NASDAQ-listed companies for fundamental strength, business quality, and favourable macro tailwinds. The single highest-scoring name is published as the week’s idea, complete with a detailed thesis, risk factors, invalidation criteria, and transparent scoring methodology. If no company clears the bar in a given week, we publish a pass. We never force an idea just to fill a slot.
The screening and scoring is automated: a pipeline I built (this is where the data analytics and process engineering background comes in) that scans the market daily and applies the same rules-based rubric to every name, no exceptions and no favorites. But nothing goes out on autopilot. I personally review, curate, and publish every Sunday pick and every free research report myself, checking the thesis holds up, the numbers are right, and it’s a name I’d actually stand behind before it ever reaches your inbox.
No sponsored picks. No affiliate relationships. No filler.
One idea done properly, plus the tools to research on your own between Sundays.
The Sunday edition is the centrepiece, but most weeks you will spend more time in the tools than in one report. They are built for the same habit: clear numbers, less noise, and enough context to think for yourself.
Brokerage connections are read-only and informational only. We use them to help you see your holdings in context with Picksmith research. Picksmith never places trades, never manages your account, and never has permission to execute orders on your behalf.
We are still building. If something in the product feels clunky, if a tool is missing, or if you have an idea for a feature that would make your research easier, we want to hear it. Send feedback through the contact form or email support@picksmith.co. User suggestions shape what we ship next.
If that sounds like what you’ve been looking for, subscribe here.
Picksmith is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, financial planner, or trading signal service. We do not execute trades, manage portfolios, or provide personalised investment advice. Our content is general informational and educational research: opinion and analysis for learning purposes only. Linked brokerage data is shown for your own reference and does not change that.
You should always do your own research and, where appropriate, consult a licensed professional before making investment decisions. Past performance discussed in our research is not indicative of future results.
Questions, feedback, or press enquiries: support@picksmith.co or use the contact form.
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