Training Grounds
Every gladiator trained before they fought. This is where you learn to read research properly — the scorecard, the bear case, the track record — plus every term we use, in plain English. Free, no sign-up, and general advice only: we teach you how to think about research, never what you personally should buy.
Most investing education is either a textbook or a sales pitch. This is neither. The six lessons below teach one narrow skill each: how to read a conviction score without treating it as a promise, how to weigh a bull case against a bear case, what a 20-minute delay does and doesn't cost you, what actually changes when you're classified wholesale, how to run a watchlist that isn't a souvenir collection, and how to audit a track record — including ours. Each takes about four minutes. Below the lessons, every term we use on this site is defined in two sentences first, detail second. Start anywhere. Nothing here requires anything else, and nothing here is advice about your money — it's training in how to read anyone who wants to manage it.
The lessons
Six short lessons in reading research well. No jargon, no homework, no sand required.
Reading a scorecard
What the Gladiator Score's number means, what it deliberately doesn't, and how to use it without fooling yourself.
Lesson I - 4 min
Bull case, bear case thinking
Why every honest pick argues against itself, and how to read both cases like the desk that wrote them.
Lesson II - 4 min
What delayed data can and can't tell you
Twenty minutes behind the exchange: what that costs you, what it doesn't, and why the label is the honest part.
Lesson III - 4 min
Wholesale vs retail — what changes
The s708 tests in plain English: what you gain access to, what protections you give up, and why it's a threshold, not a compliment.
Lesson IV - 4 min
Building a watchlist discipline
A watchlist is a record of your own thinking. Five rules to stop it becoming a pile of hot tips.
Lesson V - 4 min
How to read our track record
Hit rates lie, samples mislead, and every honest record has scars. How to audit a research house — starting with this one.
Lesson VI - 4 min
The terms
Every term answered in the first two sentences, detail after. Written for Australian wholesale investors.
Wholesale investor
A wholesale investor (often called a sophisticated investor) is an Australian investor who meets the tests in sections 708 and 761G of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) — most commonly net assets of at least A$2.5 million or gross income of at least A$250,000 in each of the last two financial years, certified by a qualified accountant.
Gladiator Score
The Gladiator Score is Stock Gladiator's conviction rating: a single number from 0 to 100 published with every stock pick. It summarises how strongly the evidence supports the call, scored the same way for every stock, and is fixed at publication — never edited after the outcome is known.
General advice vs personal advice
Under Australian law, general advice does not consider your personal objectives, financial situation or needs; personal advice does. Stock research published to a subscriber base is general advice — it can inform your thinking but is not a recommendation tailored to you.
Conviction rating
A conviction rating expresses how strongly a research desk backs its own call, separate from the direction of the call itself. Two BUY calls can carry very different conviction — the rating makes that difference explicit and comparable.
Bull case and bear case
The bull case is the argument a stock rises; the bear case is the argument it falls. Publishing both, side by side and weighted, shows a reader the genuine balance of evidence rather than a one-sided pitch.
ASX 200
The S&P/ASX 200 is Australia's headline share-market index: the 200 largest listed companies by float-adjusted market capitalisation, covering roughly 80% of the Australian equity market's value.
Track record (unedited)
An unedited track record lists every call a research house has published — wins and losses, with dates and outcomes — with nothing removed. A hit rate that cannot be audited against the full list of calls is marketing, not evidence.
Delayed market data
Delayed market data shows prices at least 20 minutes behind the exchange. It is suitable for research context and market overviews, and unsuitable for trade timing — which is why public market pages label it clearly.
s708 accountant's certificate
An s708 certificate is a document from a qualified accountant confirming an investor meets the wholesale thresholds — net assets of A$2.5 million or gross income of A$250,000 in each of the last two financial years. It is the standard evidence a provider relies on before giving wholesale-only services.
Position sizing
Position sizing is deciding how much capital a single idea receives. Sizing to conviction and risk — rather than equal weights or gut feel — is often a bigger driver of portfolio outcomes than pick selection itself.
General information only — not personal financial advice. Lessons and definitions are educational and do not consider your objectives, financial situation or needs.