What is systematic investing and why does it matter?+
Systematic investing means making investment decisions based on a defined, repeatable process - not instinct, news, or emotion. Instead of reacting to market noise, systematic investors set clear criteria for what makes a good stock and apply those criteria consistently. It matters because emotion is the biggest destroyer of investment returns. A systematic approach removes the guesswork and keeps you disciplined across bull markets, crashes, and everything in between.
What is emotional investing and how does it hurt returns?+
Emotional investing is when fear or greed drives your decisions instead of fundamentals. You panic-sell during a downturn and miss the recovery. You chase a hot stock after the move is already over. You hold a losing position too long because selling feels like admitting failure. These patterns are universal - and they're expensive. Studies consistently show that the average investor significantly underperforms the market largely because of emotional decision-making.
What is Stockyard?+
Stockyard is an AI-powered systematic investing platform for self-directed investors who combine fundamental and technical analysis. Its proprietary sector taxonomy - classified by AI from each company's actual revenue streams - sorts every company by revenue contribution: pure-play, core, diversified, or emerging, so sector rules mean companies that genuinely earn their money in that business. You define your approach as explicit rules: the fundamental tests a company must pass, the sectors and purity you want, and the technical signals that trigger action. Stockyard backtests those rules on point-in-time data, then monitors the market daily - every earnings report, every day's price action - and alerts you when a stock meets your rules. Syd, Stockyard's AI research assistant, explains the data in plain English and can build a Smartfolio from a plain-English description. Research and monitoring only; it never executes trades.
What does pure-play mean? How does Stockyard classify sectors?+
Most platforms assign each company a single sector label based on what the company is known for - so a conglomerate with a small quantum-computing division gets filed as a quantum stock. Stockyard's proprietary taxonomy instead classifies every company by revenue contribution: how much of its revenue actually comes from each business it's in. Categories run from pure-play (more than 80% of revenue) through core and diversified to emerging. Companies can belong to several sectors at once, each with its own category - so a rule for "pure-play quantum computing" means companies that genuinely make their money there.
What data do Stockyard's backtests use?+
Stockyard uses over 10 years of point-in-time fundamental and price data. The fundamentals used are as they were reported on the day they became public. Stockyard calculates growth, accelerating growth values, and rankings on the entire history for use in backtesting. Stockyard tests your rules against the market as it actually appeared, quarter by quarter - using the numbers investors actually saw at the time, not today's restated figures.
Can Stockyard watch stocks I already own?+
Yes - that's what Watchlists are for. Add the companies you own or follow, and Stockyard generates buy and sell signals on them from its technical indicators and alerts you when earnings land and rankings change. Your Watchlist can sit on the Leaderboard next to systematic Smartfolios, so you can compare your own picks against automated rules-based strategies on the same scoreboard.
Is Stockyard a robo-advisor?+
No. Stockyard doesn't manage your money or decide for you. You set the rules, Stockyard checks them against the market every day and tells you when something changes, and you make the call.
Does Stockyard place trades for me?+
No. Stockyard is a research and monitoring platform, and you place trades with your own broker. We think AI is better at research and signal generation than at autonomous trading.
How does Stockyard use AI?+
Stockyard's AI powers Smartfolios - persistent investment strategies that monitor the entire market daily. Once you define your criteria, the AI scans thousands of stocks every day, identifies new matches, tracks earnings reactions, and alerts you when something changes. Unlike a traditional screener that only shows you results when you log in, Stockyard's AI works continuously in the background - so you never miss an opportunity because you weren't watching.
What is a Smartfolio?+
A Smartfolio is a persistent, AI-monitored investment strategy. You build one by answering five questions: which sectors to look in (down to pure-play companies, by revenue contribution), what you're willing to pay, which fundamental tests a company must pass - expressed as percentile rankings against the market and its peers - and which technical signals trigger buys and sells. Stockyard then monitors the market daily: as earnings reports are filed, it re-ranks companies on the new data and watches price action against your rules, alerting you when a stock qualifies or a sell rule fires. Every Smartfolio is automatically backtested on point-in-time data, so you can see how the strategy would have performed historically before trusting it. Smartfolios can follow growth, value, or thematic approaches - or be purely technical. Start from Stockyard's library of pre-built Smartfolios, or build your own.
How is Stockyard different from a stock screener?+
A traditional stock screener shows you results when you search. Stockyard's Smartfolios keep watching after you've logged off. Stockyard automatically processes new earnings reports as they are filed and incorporates price patterns into its analysis. Beyond that, Stockyard adds Backtesting, automatic backtesting built into every Smartfolio, a Leaderboard to compare performance, and an Investment Club feature - none of which a standard screener offers.
What is the Leaderboard?+
The Leaderboard ranks Smartfolios by performance - daily and over time. It lets you see which strategies are working, by how much, and compared to the S&P 500 benchmark. For investment clubs, the Leaderboard adds a competitive and educational dimension: members can run different strategies and see whose approach is actually winning, backed by real data.
How does Discovery work?+
Discovery is Stockyard's fundamental stock screener. You filter thousands of stocks by criteria like revenue growth, earnings quality, gross margin, cash flow, and sector - and Stockyard ranks results using percentile scores relative to the market and sector peers. Stockyard automatically ranks every stock on individual metrics so you're never starting from a blank slate. Discovery also includes a library of pre-built searches covering growth, value, thematic, and other investment styles.
Is Stockyard good for investment clubs?+
Stockyard is ideal for investment clubs. Every member gets access to Discovery, Smartfolios, and Backtesting. The Leaderboard lets the club compare strategies and track whose approach is outperforming. Members can run different strategies simultaneously - growth vs. value vs. momentum - and use real data to drive club discussions. Clubs of two or more members get a 25% group discount.
How much does Stockyard cost?+
Stockyard offers three tiers. Free gives you full access for the first 30 days, then continues with stock fundamentals and projections, and Stock Discovery. Individual ($7/month) adds 3 Smartfolios and AI monitoring. Pro ($30/month) includes unlimited Smartfolios, full Backtesting, and advanced fundamentals and technicals. Investment clubs of 2 or more members receive a 25% discount. No credit card is required to start.
How can AI improve systematic investing?+
AI makes systematic investing more powerful by doing what humans can't - monitoring thousands of stocks continuously, processing new data as it arrives, and applying criteria consistently without emotion or fatigue. Traditional systematic investing required manual screening and periodic reviews. AI-powered platforms like Stockyard automate the monitoring layer entirely, so your strategy runs 24/7 without requiring you to be at your desk. The result is a more disciplined, more responsive investment process that scales beyond what any individual investor could manage alone.
How does AI help with thematic investing?+
Thematic investing - betting on trends like AI infrastructure, clean energy, or healthcare innovation - requires understanding not just what a company does, but where it fits in a broader ecosystem. Stockyard uses AI to classify thousands of companies into specific sectors and subsectors, making it possible to build and monitor thematic strategies with precision. Instead of manually researching which companies belong to a theme, Stockyard's AI classification lets you screen and monitor entire subsectors instantly - and stay current as new companies emerge or shift focus.
How can AI agents help individual investors?+
Most investors can't watch the market every day - and they shouldn't have to. AI agents that persist in the background change this fundamentally. Instead of checking in periodically and reacting to what you find, a persistent AI agent monitors the market on your behalf, processes new information as it arrives, and surfaces the right signals at the right time. Stockyard's Smartfolios work exactly this way - they are persistent AI agents that watch thousands of stocks daily, process earnings reports automatically, track price patterns, and alert you when your criteria are met. You set the strategy. The AI does the watching.
How do I find undervalued stocks?+
Finding undervalued stocks means identifying companies whose fundamental quality exceeds what the market is currently pricing in. Stockyard approaches this through Discovery, which ranks every stock using percentile scores across multiple fundamentals - revenue growth, earnings quality, gross margins, and cash flow - relative to both the market and sector peers. Because Stockyard uses AI to classify companies into specific sectors and subsectors, comparisons are meaningful: a healthcare services company is ranked against other healthcare services companies, not against semiconductor manufacturers. This peer-group ranking reveals stocks that are strong within their category but may not yet be on the market's radar - a more precise way to find undervalued opportunities than broad market comparisons alone.
How do I know when to sell a stock?+
The sell decision is where emotion does the most damage - investors hold losers too long hoping for a recovery, and sell winners too early out of fear. Stockyard removes this by making the sell decision criteria-driven rather than emotional. When you define a Smartfolio, you set the conditions a stock must meet to stay in your strategy. Stockyard's AI monitors those conditions daily. If a stock no longer meets your criteria - due to deteriorating fundamentals, an earnings miss, or a shift in price patterns - Stockyard alerts you. The decision isn't 'how do I feel about this stock today?' It's 'does this stock still meet my criteria?' That's a question data can answer.
How do I backtest a stock investing strategy?+
Backtesting means testing your investment strategy against historical data to see how it would have performed before risking real capital. Stockyard offers two levels of backtesting. Full Backtesting, available on the Pro plan, lets you run any strategy against historical data across multiple market cycles - bull markets, corrections, and recoveries - and see detailed performance metrics. Every Smartfolio also includes automatic backtesting built in, so the moment you define a strategy, Stockyard shows you how it would have performed historically. This gives even Individual plan users an immediate, data-driven read on whether their strategy has merit before going live.