Educational material from 
What you will learn
- Record the source and observation time before an exercise.
- Keep an assumption separate from information actually provided by the evidence.
- Review the reasoning without rewriting the original entry.
Copy five fields and leave the final one blank
Start with paper or your own document. Write the date and time, company identity, source and reporting period. Add one field for what you observed, another for what you assume, and another for the practice decision. Fill in the review only when the chosen final evidence is available. No dedicated journal software is required.
Keep the original note when your thinking changes. Add a new dated entry explaining the change. If the source or period is absent, write missing instead of guessing. The template makes those distinctions visible, but provides neither a guarantee of improved outcomes nor a complete basis for an investment decision.
If the table does not fit, scroll it sideways.
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Time and identity | Date, time, correct company and currency |
| Source and observation | Link or document, period and information actually provided |
| Hypothesis | What you assume and what would need checking |
| Fictional decision | Quantity, model price, cost, cash and chosen end date |
| Later review | New evidence, calculation, unanswered question and next learning step |
A completed example with a clearly labelled hypothesis
The fictional evidence reports company A’s first-half revenue as SEK 200,000. Your hypothesis is that the following half-year’s revenue could be SEK 240,000. The second amount is absent from the evidence and must be labelled an assumption. The SEK 40,000 difference is an imagined scenario, rather than a reported increase in sales.
The practice account starts with SEK 1,000. You record five shares at a model price of SEK 80, cost SEK 400 and remaining cash SEK 600. Choose the end date and specify no fees, dividends or deposits in advance. This decision tests how you document reasoning; it is not a purchase suggestion about a real company.
A higher price does not confirm the revenue hypothesis
At review, the model price is SEK 92. The holding is worth SEK 460 and the total account is SEK 1,060. The holding’s price return is +15 percent, while the account return is +6 percent. Record both with their correct starting bases. This invented price movement does not establish a future real-world result.
No new report has been supplied in the exercise. You therefore still do not know whether half-year revenue reached SEK 240,000. The price of SEK 92 is an outcome in the model, rather than proof of your particular explanation. Add the question Which report would test this hypothesis? instead of rewriting the entry as if you knew everything beforehand.
Review the journal alone or with a friend
Cover the final result and read only the original entry. Can someone else find the source, understand the assumption and reproduce the cost? Then reveal the outcome and mark what it actually answers. Follow up a missing source or mixed reporting period even if the practice account value increased.
Investiq’s lessons guide helps choose a focused calculation question, and its company-search guide helps check identity. This journal stays on your own paper or document; the activity does not claim the app offers journal fields, export or automatic hypothesis tracking. Choose the next learning task from the unanswered question rather than the final value alone.
Printable practice journal: blank template and completed example
Open the blank template for your own exercise, or compare it with the completed example from this page. Both sheets keep the starting entry separate from the later review. Use your browser’s print function and write on paper; the layout is designed for A4.
Keep the starting entry and add a dated review. A higher model price does not confirm a revenue hypothesis. These sheets are independent learning material and require no account; they do not describe journal fields or export in Investiq.
Try it yourself
You have only the starting evidence showing first-half revenue of SEK 200,000 and the later model price of SEK 92. An entry says: Revenue reached SEK 240,000, so my decision was correct. Which parts of that sentence lack support in this exercise?
Show the solution and explanation
Revenue of SEK 240,000 remains an unconfirmed hypothesis. The price outcome does not prove that the decision’s evidence was sound.
No new revenue report is provided. A rising model price answers a price question, rather than establishing the company’s sales or why an earlier assumption was well supported. Keep the hypothesis and obtain evidence for the correct period.
Check your understanding
Can a hypothesis be included in the journal?
Yes, when it is labelled an assumption and kept separate from observed information.
Should you rewrite the initial entry when the result becomes known?
Keep it and add a dated review so the information available at each stage remains visible.
Practise with virtual money
Try what you just learned in a practice portfolio with virtual money. You don't deposit any real money.
How the practice portfolio worksKeep learning and practising
More activities on this topic
Document and examine companies
Sources and examples
- Finansinspektionen: investigate company facts and risks (Swedish)
- Finansinspektionen: distinguish facts from opinions and promises (Swedish)
The sources support the factual explanations. Calculations and exercises were created for this lesson. Amounts and price changes are invented unless stated otherwise.
This material is educational and does not recommend securities to buy. A simulated result does not guarantee a future result.
