What is the magic formula for stocks?

Asked by: Mr. London Rutherford  |  Last update: April 27, 2026
Score: 4.6/5 (68 votes)

The Magic Formula, as explained by Joel Greenblatt in his book The Little Book that Beats the Market, involves ranking stocks based on two metrics: earnings yield (EBIT/enterprise value) and return on capital (EBIT/invested capital).

What is the magic formula method?

The magic formula is a stock-picking strategy based on two financial metrics: earnings yield and return on capital (ROC). The strategy focuses on buying good companies at bargain prices, similar to Warren Buffett's approach, but Greenblatt simplifies the process into an easy-to-follow method.

What is the best formula for stocks?

Basic Math for Stock Market Investments
  • Equation 1.
  • Return on Equity (ROE) = (Net income/shareholder equity)
  • Equation 2.
  • F = P * (1 + R)t.
  • Equation 3.

How do you calculate the magic formula?

This is how the two Magic Formula investing ratios are calculated: Return on invested capital (ROIC) = EBIT / (net working capital + net fixed assets). Earnings yield = EBIT / Enterprise value.

When to sell magic formula stocks?

Sell each stock after holding it for one year.

For taxable accounts, sell stocks with a gain after holding them for a few days more than a year and sell the ones with a loss after holding them for a few days less than a year. Then replace those stocks with the new ones identified by the formula.

Does Magic Formula Investing Work? | Seth's Little Book Update

18 related questions found

What is the minimum market cap for the magic formula?

Requirements for Magic Formula Investing

Since Greenblatt's magic formula only applies to companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million, it excludes small-cap stocks. The remainder will all be large companies but excludes financial companies, utility companies, and non-U.S. companies.

What is the rule number 1 in the stock market?

Warren Buffett and his mentor, Ben Graham, championed Rule #1 for one fundamental reason: minimizing loss. By minimizing losses, even in subpar investments, you increase your chances of finding winning investments over time.

What is the magic formula function?

The Magic Formula y(x) typically produces a curve that passes through the origin x = y = 0, reaches a maximum, and subsequently tends to a horizontal asymptote.

What is the magic number formula?

You can calculate the magic number for your SaaS business by subtracting the last quarter's annual recurring revenue (ARR) from the current quarter's ARR and dividing by your total customer acquisition cost (CAC) (your total sales and marketing spend) from the previous quarter.

What is the 90% rule in stocks?

The Rule of 90 is a grim statistic that serves as a sobering reminder of the difficulty of trading. According to this rule, 90% of novice traders will experience significant losses within their first 90 days of trading, ultimately wiping out 90% of their initial capital.

What is the 4% rule all stocks?

One frequently used rule of thumb for retirement spending is known as the 4% rule. It's relatively simple: You add up all of your investments, and withdraw 4% of that total during your first year of retirement. In subsequent years, you adjust the dollar amount you withdraw to account for inflation.

What is the 1 rule in stock market?

What Is the 1% Rule in Trading? The 1% rule demands that traders never risk more than 1% of their total account value on a single trade.

What is the 1 2 3 magic method?

1-2-3 Magic divides the parenting responsibilities into three straightforward tasks: controlling negative behavior, encouraging good behavior, and strengthening the child-parent relationship. The program seeks to encourage gentle, but firm, discipline without arguing, yelling, or spanking.

What is the magic formula for yield?

Determine company's earnings yield = EBIT / enterprise value. Determine company's return on capital = EBIT / (net fixed assets + working capital).

What is a coffee can portfolio?

A coffee can portfolio is a long-term bet on certain stocks that have extremely good promoter lineage, have consistently performed over the years, have a long runway for growth and are backed by good management to name a few.

What is the magic formula in stocks?

What Is Magic Formula Investing? Magic formula investing is a rule-based disciplined investing strategy to help investors understand value investing theory in a simple manner. He simplified the methodology of stock picking by listing stocks based on their price and return on capital.

What is the magic formula for investing ranking?

To select the top-ranked stocks, the magic formula ranks all stocks based on a combination of earnings yield and return on capital: Stocks with the highest earnings yield and return on capital receive a higher rank.

What stocks does Joel Greenblatt own?

In Joel Greenblatt's current portfolio as of 2024-09-30, the top 5 holdings are SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), Gotham Enhanced 500 ETF (GSPY), NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), Apple Inc (AAPL), not including call and put options. Joel Greenblatt did not buy any new stocks in the current portfolio.

What is the math magic trick?

1. Multiplying by 6. If you multiply 6 by an even number, the answer will end with the same digit. The number in the ten's place will be half of the number in the one's place. This ploy works effortlessly, and students can add it to their collection of maths magic tricks!

How to write "I love you" in numbers?

So, 143 stands for I Love You. This numeric code is popular because it's easy to remember and type out, especially in texts or social media posts. The origin of 143 as an encoded message of love is unclear, but it became widely known in the 1990s through pager code.

What is the golden rule of stock?

2.1 First Golden Rule: 'Buy what's worth owning forever'

This rule tells you that when you are selecting which stock to buy, you should think as if you will co-own the company forever.

What is rule number one Warren Buffett?

It's that simple. Rule number one: never lose money. Rule number two: Never forget rule number one.

What is the 123 rule in trading?

The 123 bullish pullback pattern is a method of identifying a pullback trade that occurs over 3 swing moves. It is a 5-column pattern. It is a method to identify when the retracement falls below the bullish breakout level and price again starts moving up.