The Zombie Corp series finds companies using debt-funded acquisitions and unwritten goodwill to mask genuine weakness. We check the leaves, not just the canopy.
The largest IPO in stock market history — scored against the Goodwill Mask Scorecard the day before pricing. Plus: who is really suffering in the US economy, and what four scenarios look like for investors.
The Wayfair calibration surfaced a second pattern worth its own investigation — the debt + buyback negative-equity zombie with no goodwill. No IPO drama required.
The Goodwill Mask Scorecard (v1.2) is a 20-point repeatable framework calibrated across four test companies before being applied to any live case. It scores one question with evidence, not opinion: is this company hiding genuine weakness behind unimpaired acquisition goodwill?
Each Zombie Corp investigation drops to subscribers two weeks before it goes public. One investigation every seven weeks — verified against the actual filing, never rushed.