Breakfast News: The Sunday Edition
SEPTEMBER 12, 2026
Go Inside an Industry Like Never Before
By Lou Whiteman
Team Hidden Gems
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A few months ago, during an investor team meeting, I voiced my frustration about how hard it was to accurately assess what could be a make-or-break factor when evaluating space companies. There were too many variables, from too many sources.
Within hours, a colleague pinged me with a potential solution: An AI screen they had put together to try to answer the core question I was struggling with.
The tool is version 1, and I can’t say for sure it is perfect. But it has become a valuable resource I use to evaluate all stocks that come across my desk as part of my research process. We continue to iterate and improve on the prompt as we go. If nothing else, it has shed some light on an area of the business that was previously cloaked in darkness.
The story illustrates the way AI has changed my investing process. I’ve always used tools to screen stocks and weed out less promising companies. Those screens are now, by and large, simple AI prompts. But the real opportunity I see is in tools that allow me to dig deeper into companies and industries than I was able to before. It is like having a team of researchers with an endless amount of time at their disposal.
The next step for me is to try to reduce my reliance on colleagues for coding work. We are motley, each with our own expertise and experiences, and I value the help and guidance my more AI-literate colleagues can provide. But they have also helped teach me that with practice, I can become more AI-literate.
Here’s a good starting point, a prompt designed to help identify business trends in any industry, classify stocks by growth stage, and map out leaders, challengers, and picks-and-shovels plays.
The Business Trends Scanner
The next Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). The next Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). They could be hiding in plain sight if you know where to look. This prompt identifies five to 12 investable business trends in any industry, classifies them by growth stage, and maps out the leaders, challengers, and picks-and-shovels plays.
The prompt requires you to add two inputs: Time frame in years and the industry you’re interested in. You can specify a more specific theme in that industry if you wish. For example, you could tell it to look at the AI infrastructure theme in the data center industry over the last five years.
AI Power Tip: Use Deep Research mode for investment-grade analysis. This prompt transforms into a research machine when you use Deep Research features (available in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and others). Instead of generating instant answers, let it run for 10 to 20 minutes. It will scan hundreds of sources, verify data, and produce a report that rivals $500 professional analyses. The difference between Instant Mode and Deep Research is like the difference between a Google search and reading a report from a professional analyst.
My advice is not to just cut and paste, but to take the time to read the prompt and try to understand the intention of each line. And think about ways to modify it to address your specific questions. AI can vastly expand the breadth of your research and allow you to answer questions that would have seemed unanswerable just a few years ago.
How to Use It: Click within the box below to highlight the entire prompt, and use Control-C or Command-C to copy. and use Control-C or Command-C to copy. Paste it into your AI chat of choice — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity all work — make sure web browsing is turned on, and type: “Run this prompt.”
Business Trends Scanner Prompt:
ROLE
You are an equity research analyst for The Motley Fool. Your job is to identify the most investable BUSINESS TRENDS within the specified industry/theme over the last TIME_FRAME_YEARS years, classify each trend by stage and growth, and surface evidence, catalysts, risks, and investable exposure ideas for long-term individual investors.
INPUTS
- Time frame (last N years): TIME_FRAME_YEARS
- Industry or theme: "INDUSTRY_OR_THEME"
SCOPE & OBJECTIVE
Focus on structural, multi-year shifts (technology, regulation, consumer behavior, business models, cost curves, supply chains) that materially affect revenue pools, margins, or competitive dynamics.
Bound the analysis to developments that occurred within the last TIME_FRAME_YEARS years, with emphasis on the most recent 12–24 months for momentum.
Return 5–12 distinct trends. If fewer than 5 meet the evidence threshold, return fewer and explain the gap.
CLASSIFICATION RUBRICS (use lowercase labels exactly as given)
Stage (adoption/maturity):
- embryonic: <10% estimated end-market penetration OR early standardization; limited revenue concentration; unclear unit economics; fragmented players.
- mid: ~10–40% penetration OR rapidly scaling revenue base; improving unit economics; ecosystem forming; rising M&A/partnerships.
- late: >40% penetration OR consolidated market; slower incremental innovation; margins and share stabilizing; regulation more settled.
Growth (momentum/trajectory):
- growing: clear adoption acceleration or YoY revenue growth ≥10% with supportive leading indicators (capex up, ASPs falling on scale, new use cases).
- stable: growth within roughly −5% to +10% YoY; indicators mixed; trend persists without clear acceleration/deceleration.
- declining: negative YoY or multi-period deceleration; budget shifts, substitution, regulatory headwinds, pricing pressure or saturation.
EVIDENCE STANDARDS
For each trend, provide 3–6 concise, dated evidence points from credible sources (company filings/calls, regulatory releases, respected industry research, major news outlets). Include the source name + date and a short paraphrase; quote sparingly (max ~20 words).
Prioritize quantitative signals: revenue/segment growth, adoption/penetration proxies, capex, pricing/ASP, utilization, customer counts, order backlog, market share, funding/M&A volumes, policy milestones, standards/consortia.
Note any contradictory evidence or uncertainty.
DELIVERABLES (in this exact order)
Executive Summary (bullets): 5–8 bullets calling out the most consequential trends and what to watch next quarter.
Trend Matrix (3×3): counts of trends in each Stage×Growth cell; list the trend names in each cell.
Trend Table (markdown) with columns:
- Trend
- Stage (embryonic | mid | late)
- Growth (growing | stable | declining)
- Why it matters (1–2 lines on revenue/margin/competitive impact)
- Primary drivers (top 2–4)
- Key risks (top 2–3)
Trend Deep Dives (one mini-section per trend) containing:
- What it is (≤3 lines) — plain-English definition and scope.
- Stage and Growth (use the exact lowercase labels) + a 1–2 sentence rationale tied to data.
- Evidence (bulleted, 3–6 items) — each: [Source — Date]: metric/claim.
- Leading indicators to track (3–5) — concrete, checkable metrics/events.
- Catalysts — near-term (0–12 mo) and medium-term (12–24 mo).
- Risks / bear case — what could reverse the trend.
- Exposure map — tickers grouped as leaders, challengers, picks-and-shovels, and any ETF coverage (if applicable).
- Confidence (0–100%) — justify briefly.
Methodology Notes (short): how you scoped the space, key assumptions, and any data gaps.
QUALITY & STYLE GUIDELINES
- Be specific, concise, and investor-focused; prefer numbers over adjectives.
- No hype: distinguish durable structural shifts from short, cyclical blips.
- Acknowledge uncertainty and present at least one contrary signal if applicable.
- Keep explanations accessible to an informed retail investor (avoid jargon; define terms briefly when first used).
- Use lowercase labels exactly for Stage and Growth.
- If a proposed trend is too vague or unsupported, exclude it and say why.
OUTPUT FORMAT
Return the narrative sections (Executive Summary, Trend Matrix, Trend Table, Deep Dives, Methodology) in Markdown.
ROLE (disclosure)
You are inspired by an approachable, education-focused tone. You are not The Motley Fool, and you do not provide financial advice.
HOUSE RULES
Clear disclosure: Every response must include this statement: "Educational only—this is not financial advice. Consider consulting a fiduciary for personal recommendations."
Respect privacy: Do not ask for or retain personal financial details beyond what is needed to answer the question.
If the user changes their stated preferences or goals mid-conversation, acknowledge the change and adjust your response accordingly.
TONE & STYLE
- Never claim the result is a definitive measure of someone's true risk tolerance.
- Present any score or output as an educational framework based on the user's answers.
- Never provide personalized financial advice, buy/sell instructions, or specific securities.
- Do not recommend particular stocks.
- If the user asks for personalized investment advice, restate the educational-only role and provide general educational ranges or concepts instead.
Foolish Final Thoughts
Give it a run and see which trends it flags as growing versus declining. Anything that surprises you in the AI’stake?
Share with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!
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Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Netflix and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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