Stock Spotlight is an independent investing podcast focused on fundamental stock research, business quality and long-term shareholder returns.
Hosted by Michael, the show features company deep dives, industry comparisons, valuation analysis and investing frameworks designed to better understand what drives business performance and investment returns. Episodes also feature conversations with other investors, exploring their research processes, investment philosophies and portfolio strategies.
Finding Growth and Managing Risk (with Nick Rossolillo)
Where do good investment ideas come from and how do you keep an exciting opportunity from becoming too much of the same bet? Nick Rossolillo of Chip Stock Investor joins me to discuss how he identifies secular growth trends, studies industries and finds companies worth researching. He shares what he looks for in the first 5-10 minutes of reading a 10-K, why he maps customers, suppliers and competitors before diving into management’s story and what takes his research beyond semiconductors.
We also explore why Nick puts probabilities and risks management at the center of investing, including his candid views on “high conviction” ideas. Using Nvidia and Arista Networks, we discuss when owning another great business adds diversification and when it increases exposure to the same underlying risks. Then we tackle semiconductor cycles, the limitations of valuation multiples and how Reverse DCF can help assess what a stock’s price already assumes. We finish with a lightning round covering Free Cash Flow, time value of money, favorite research resources and Kasey’s hypothetical plan for running Disney.
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00:00 Intro
00:59 Nick’s Background and Finding Secular Growth
05:46 Researching the Industry Before the Company
12:16 Looking Beyond Semiconductors
16:08 Probabilities and Risk Management
22:31 Nvidia and Arista Networks
33:18 Rapid-Fire Lightning Round
37:47 Outro
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Intro Music: Andrey Rossi – Seize the Day
Outro Music: Ra – Prospect
*Music provided by Uppbeat Premium
Check out the Chip Stock Investor website: https://chipstockinvestor.com/ (https://chipstockinvestor.com/)
Watch Chip Stock Investor's NVDA vs. ANET YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMuLBVcb84 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMuLBVcb84)
Follow Nick on X: https://x.com/nrossolillo (https://x.com/nrossolillo)
Follow me on X: https://x.com/invest091 (https://x.com/invest091)
Listen to the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stockspotlightpodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@stockspotlightpodcast)
Subscribe to my Substack: https://stockspotlightpodcast.substack.com/ (https://stockspotlightpodcast.substack.com/)
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Disclosure: The host of Stock Spotlight is not a licensed financial advisor. The information and opinions shared during the show are for entertainment purposes only.
28 Oct 2026
The Business of Trash: Which Waste Stock Is the Best Investment?
Trash collection might seem like a boring business, but behind those garbage trucks and landfills are some surprisingly attractive economics. In Episode 42 of Stock Spotlight, I'm putting three of North America's largest waste operators head-to-head: Waste Management ($WM), Republic Services ($RSG) and Waste Connections ($WCN). From route density and landfill ownership to pricing power and competitive advantages, we explore what makes these businesses so difficult to disrupt. Then I dig into their historical shareholder returns and financial performance, comparing free cash flow growth, capital efficiency, operating leverage and the consistency of cash generation.
Of course, a great business doesn't always make a great investment at the wrong price. That's why I'm also evaluating management incentives, capital allocation, future growth opportunities and historical valuations before building a 5-YR Total Shareholder Return (TSR) model for all three stocks. The findings aren't as straightforward as you might expect. $RSG stands out for its financial quality and management alignment, $WM has opportunities to unlock cash flow from recent investments and $WCN combines a differentiated operating strategy with the strongest modeled shareholder returns. After 5 rounds of analysis, only one company comes out on top. Tune in to find out who wins.
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00:00 Intro
01:16 Why This Comparison Matters
04:15 Performance & Correlation
07:20 Business Models
15:23 Quality Profiles
19:48 Future Growth Potential
25:33 Management & Ownership
30:13 Final Verdict
30:52 Outro
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Intro Music: Andrey Rossi – Seize the Day
Outro Music: Ra – Prospect
*Music provided by Uppbeat Premium
Follow me on X: https://x.com/invest091 (https://x.com/invest091)
Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stockspotlightpodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@stockspotlightpodcast)
Subscribe to my Substack: https://stockspotlightpodcast.substack.com/ (https://stockspotlightpodcast.substack.com/)
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Disclosure: The host of Stock Spotlight is not a licensed financial advisor. The information and opinions shared during the show are for entertainment purposes only.
21 Oct 2026
Introducing a Composite Momentum Score for the S&P 500
Can we systematically measure whether a business is gaining momentum and whether it's performing better or worse than Wall Street expected?
In this episode of Stock Spotlight, I introduce my new Composite Momentum Score, a research framework built to evaluate business fundamentals and earnings expectations across the S&P 500 and beyond. Unlike traditional price momentum strategies, this model separates Business Momentum from Expectations Momentum, then combines the two into a single score designed to identify improving businesses, deteriorating fundamentals and potential disconnects between company performance and market expectations.
I'll walk through the methodology behind the model, explain why separating these two dimensions matters, share a few surprising findings and discuss how I plan to incorporate the framework into my investment process. Over time, I hope it becomes a useful starting point for deciding where to focus my research.
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00:00 Intro
01:22 Why I Built It
02:24 The 11 Signals
04:50 How the Score Works
06:18 What Surprised Me
07:25 A Few Company Examples
09:20 How I Plan To Use It
11:19 Outro
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Intro Music: Andrey Rossi – Seize the Day
Outro Music: Ra – Prospect
*Music provided by Uppbeat Premium
Read the companion Substack article: https://stockspotlightpodcast.substack.com/p/building-a-composite-momentum-score?r=73vbqm (https://stockspotlightpodcast.substack.com/p/building-a-composite-momentum-score?r=73vbqm)
Follow me on X: https://x.com/invest091 (https://x.com/invest091)
Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stockspotlightpodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@stockspotlightpodcast)
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Disclosure: The host of Stock Spotlight is not a licensed financial advisor. The information and opinions shared during the show are for entertainment purposes only.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
2,366
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.7 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
12 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 39 / 100
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