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We built Focus on Less to make this way of thinking usable.
Focus on Less brings company research, financial history and discussion into one workspace. Follow the evidence, examine the reasoning and decide what deserves your attention.
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ONE COMPANY. A COMPLETE LINE OF INQUIRY.AMERICAN EXPRESS / AXP
What can we learn from American Express?
Start with owner earnings, then examine the business judgments and valuation assumptions behind the numbers.
INSIDE FOCUS ON LESSThe research,
The research,
in one place.
Open a company case and follow its financial record, source materials and analysis. Keep the evidence close as you work towards your own view.
English previews use selected AXP research and historical data. The live interface is in Chinese. Select an image to enlarge it.
01 / OWNER EARNINGSWhat does the business
What does the business
earn for its owners?
A condensed business record centred on owner earnings and the per-share growth and returns derived from it. Estimating owner earnings requires qualitative judgment about the capital needed to sustain the business.
American Express provides a working example with 21 years of financial history, from 2005 to 2025. Definitions and sources stay with the analysis.
Explore the AXP case ↗
02 / EXAMINE THE BUSINESSWhat makes the
What makes the
business work?
A fixed framework examines three certainties: the business’s long-term economics, management’s operating and capital-allocation ability, and whether returns reach shareholders.
Evidence, original quotations and source links sit alongside the reasoning. Select a passage to comment; open an underlined discussion without leaving the text.
03 / TEST THE INVESTMENT CASEWhich assumptions
Which assumptions
need to hold?
Use owner earnings to examine price, earnings resilience and growth. Follow the estimates and assumptions through to the valuation.
In the AXP case, the analysis separates share-count changes from business growth and connects the purchase price to dividends and potential long-term returns.
PUT SOMETHING BACKUSEFUL BEYOND OURSELVES
Give others something
they can build on.
A conclusion becomes more useful when its reasoning can be examined. The work we share should help others learn, ask better questions and form their own view.
Evidence with sources.
Original quotations, source links and definitions give readers a way to trace the basis of an argument.
Reasoning you can examine.
Calculations and explicit assumptions make the path from evidence to a conclusion easier to follow.
Questions that stay in context.
Discussion sits beside the research, keeping questions and different interpretations close to the passages they concern.