Read the filings before the chart does

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

What Is Dilution? How New Shares Change What You Own

Dilution explained with worked numbers. What happens to your ownership when a company issues shares, and where to spot it coming in SEC filings.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

S-1 vs S-3 vs the Baby Shelf Rule, With the One-Third Math Worked Out

How Form S-1 and Form S-3 differ, who can use a shelf, and how the baby shelf rule caps small companies at one-third of public float per year.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

At-the-Market (ATM) Offerings: How Companies Sell Shares a Little at a Time

How an ATM program works, what a sales agreement and prospectus supplement say, how fast an ATM can be used, and where its sales show up later.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

Warrant Overhang: Counting the Shares That Do Not Exist Yet

What warrant overhang is, how to total it from the warrant table in a 10-Q, and how cash, cashless and pre-funded exercises change the share count.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

Equity Lines of Credit (ELOCs): Why Up to $50 Million Is Not $50 Million

How an equity line of credit works, and why share caps, volume limits, ownership blockers and price declines usually keep proceeds far below the headline.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

Registered Direct vs PIPE vs Underwritten Offering, Compared

The three common ways small companies sell a block of shares at a fixed price, how each is registered and disclosed, and what the fees do to net proceeds.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

How to Read a 424B5 Prospectus Supplement in Five Minutes

A section-by-section route through a 424B5, the filing that announces a shelf takedown, with the dilution table math worked out and a checklist.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

How to Estimate Cash Runway From a 10-Q, With Worked Math

A step-by-step way to estimate how many months of cash a company has left from its 10-Q balance sheet and cash flow statement, and the adjustments that matter.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

Going Concern Warnings: What Substantial Doubt Means in a Filing

What a going concern disclosure is, who makes the call, where it appears in a 10-K or 10-Q, and how to read the numbers behind it.

Dilution 101 · 5 min read

Float vs Shares Outstanding: Three Different Numbers and When Each Matters

Why shares outstanding, non-affiliate float and tradeable float differ, where each comes from in SEC filings, and how the choice changes the math.

Dilution 101 · 6 min read

Authorized Share Increases: Reading the Proxy Vote Before the Dilution

What authorized shares are, why companies ask shareholders to increase them, how to calculate real headroom, and how reverse splits change the math.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Toxic Convertibles Explained, From Variable Conversion Prices to No Floor

How variable-price convertible notes work, why a discount to VWAP and a lookback window matter, and what happens to share counts when there is no floor.

Toxic financing · 5 min read

Resets and Ratchets: How Anti-Dilution Clauses Multiply Share Counts

Full-ratchet and weighted-average anti-dilution explained, with a worked share-count table as the price falls from $1.00 to $0.10.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Ownership Blockers: Why 4.99% and 9.99% Caps Do Not Limit Total Dilution

How beneficial ownership blockers work, why they cap a holder's stake at any moment but not the total shares issued, and a worked convert-and-sell cycle.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Spotting the Lender: Finding Deal Terms and Counterparties in SEC Filings

Where a financing's terms and counterparty are disclosed, from 8-K Items 1.01 and 3.02 to the securities purchase agreement exhibit, with a phrase checklist.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

The Reverse Split Dilution Cycle: Split, Register, Convert, Repeat

How reverse splits, resale registrations and convertible financings can repeat in a cycle, with a timeline and a worked share-count example.

Toxic financing · 5 min read

Warrant Inducements: Repricing Old Warrants for Cash and New Warrants

How warrant inducement deals work, why holders get new warrants for exercising early, and how to calculate the shares added now and later.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Prepaid Advances: Cash Up Front, Repaid in Discounted Shares

How prepaid advance agreements work, how the discount, lookback, floor and cash-payment triggers decide the share count, with a worked example.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Concurrent Private Placement Warrants: The Second Half of a Registered Direct

Why registered direct offerings often come with unregistered warrants in a concurrent private placement, and how to count the shares they add later.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Reading Counterparty Disclosures: Holders, Placement Agents and Selling Shareholders

How to read the sections of a prospectus and 8-K that name who is on the other side of a financing, what they are paid, and how many shares they can sell.

Toxic financing · 6 min read

Lesser-Known Adverse Terms: Undisclosed Balances, No Maturity, Partitions and MFN

Financing terms that rarely make headlines but change how much dilution a deal can cause, from partitioned notes to MFN and participation rights.

Toxic financing · 5 min read

How to Measure Post-Offering Price Performance Without Fooling Yourself

A descriptive method for measuring how a stock traded after past offerings, with event dates, windows, benchmarks, and sample size caveats.

Core forms · 6 min read

8-K Item Codes Explained: What Each Item Number Means

A field guide to Form 8-K item numbers, from 1.01 material agreements to 9.01 exhibits, and the four-business-day filing rule behind them.

Core forms · 7 min read

6-K, 20-F and 40-F: How Foreign Private Issuers Report to the SEC

Why foreign companies file 6-Ks instead of 8-Ks, what the 20-F and 40-F annual reports contain, and how to read a 6-K that has no item numbers.

Core forms · 6 min read

10-Q and 10-K: The Five Sections to Read First on a Small Cap

A reading order for small-cap quarterly and annual reports, from liquidity and going concern to the equity note, plus filing deadlines by filer status.

Core forms · 5 min read

EDGAR Search Basics: CIKs, Accession Numbers and Full-Text Search

How to find any SEC filing on EDGAR, read a CIK and an accession number, write full-text searches that work, and where Signal8's filing search fits in.

Core forms · 6 min read

Filing Timestamps: Acceptance Time, Filing Date and Period of Report

The three dates on every SEC filing, the 5:30 p.m. ET cutoff and its 10 p.m. exceptions, and why acceptance time matters for reading news.

Core forms · 6 min read

Proxy Statements (PRE 14A, DEF 14A): Reverse Split and Share Increase Votes

How proxy statements work, why a preliminary proxy flags a charter change, and how reverse-split and authorized-share proposals are counted.

Ownership & insiders · 6 min read

Form 4 Transaction Codes: P, S, A, M, F, G and the Rest

What each Form 4 transaction code means, why code F is not a discretionary sale, the two-business-day deadline, and how to read 10b5-1 footnotes.

Ownership & insiders · 6 min read

Form 144 Explained: Notice of Proposed Sale by Affiliates

What a Form 144 is, who files it, the 5,000-share and $50,000 thresholds, Rule 144 volume limits, and why a Form 144 does not prove a sale happened.

Ownership & insiders · 5 min read

Form 13F Explained: What Institutional Holdings Data Shows and Hides

How Form 13F works, who files it, the $100 million threshold and 45-day lag, and what the reports leave out, including short positions.

Ownership & insiders · 6 min read

Schedule 13D vs 13G: Activist and Passive 5% Stakes

The difference between Schedule 13D and 13G, who may use each, the 5% trigger, and the shorter filing deadlines in force since 2024.

Listing & compliance · 7 min read

Nasdaq Deficiency Notices: Bid Price, Equity and Late Filing Rules

How Nasdaq deficiency notices work, the $1 bid price rule and its 180-day periods, equity and late-filing standards, and the reverse split limits added in 2025.

Listing & compliance · 6 min read

Form 25 and Form 15: Delisting vs Deregistration

Form 25 removes a security from an exchange; Form 15 ends or suspends SEC reporting. How each works, who files, the timelines and how to read them.

Listing & compliance · 6 min read

NT 10-K and NT 10-Q: How Late Filing Notices Work

What an NT 10-K or NT 10-Q is, the Rule 12b-25 extension of 15 or 5 days, what the notice must disclose, and what happens if the report is still late.

Offerings & deals · 5 min read

Form S-1 Explained: IPO vs Resale Registrations, S-1/A and Effectiveness

How a Form S-1 moves from first filing to effectiveness, the difference between an IPO S-1 and a resale S-1, and what 424B4 and 424B3 mean.

Offerings & deals · 5 min read

Form D and Regulation D: Rule 506(b), 506(c) and the 15-Day Filing

What Form D discloses, how Rule 506(b) and 506(c) private placements differ, how the 15-day deadline works, and why public companies file Form D.

Offerings & deals · 6 min read

Tender Offers: SC TO-T, SC TO-I, Schedule 14D-9 and Going-Private 13E-3

How tender offers are filed and timed, the difference between third-party and issuer offers, how proration works, and what a Schedule 13E-3 adds.

Trading mechanics · 6 min read

Trading Halts Explained: Halt Codes, LULD Pauses and How Trading Resumes

What T1, T2, T12, H10, LUDP, LUDS and M halt codes mean, how Limit Up-Limit Down price bands work, and how a halted stock reopens.

Trading mechanics · 6 min read

Short Interest and Borrow Explained: Days to Cover, Short % of Float and Reg SHO

How FINRA twice-monthly short interest data is collected, what days to cover and short % of float measure, and how borrow and Reg SHO work.

Trading mechanics · 5 min read

Premarket Trading and Relative Volume (RVOL): How Early Volume Is Measured

How the 4:00 to 9:30 a.m. ET premarket session works, how relative volume is calculated, and why the baseline behind an RVOL figure matters.

Trading mechanics · 5 min read

Earnings Surprises Explained: EPS and Revenue vs Consensus, Surprise % and Guidance

How earnings surprises are calculated against analyst consensus, why GAAP and adjusted EPS get mixed up, and where results and guidance are filed with the SEC.

Corporate events · 7 min read

Reverse Splits Explained: Mechanics, Fractional Shares and the 1:250 Cap

How a reverse stock split works, what happens to fractional shares and the CUSIP, why companies do it to meet bid-price rules, and Nasdaq's limits.

Corporate events · 6 min read

Uplistings Explained: Moving from OTC to Nasdaq, NYSE, NYSE American or Arca

What an uplisting is, the listing standards an OTC company has to meet, and what FINRA's OTC daily list records when a security moves to an exchange.

Corporate events · 7 min read

Bankruptcy Stages for Public Companies: Chapter 7 vs Chapter 11, DIP to Emergence

How Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 differ, the stages from petition to plan confirmation and emergence, what 8-K Item 1.03 covers, and why OTC symbols gain a Q.

Corporate events · 6 min read

Lockup Expirations Explained: 180-Day Lockups, Early Releases and Leak-Outs

How IPO lockup agreements work, where their terms are disclosed, how early releases and waivers are announced, and how leak-out agreements limit selling.

Political trading · 5 min read

STOCK Act Disclosures: Periodic Transaction Reports, the 45-Day Rule and Amount Brackets

How members of Congress report trades on Periodic Transaction Reports, the 30 and 45 day deadlines, the value brackets, and late filings.

Political trading · 6 min read

Congressional Trading Data: What It Can and Cannot Tell You

The limits of STOCK Act trade data, including amount brackets, reporting lag, spouse and managed accounts, and why a disclosed trade says nothing about intent.

Getting started · 6 min read

A Tour of the Signal8 Company Page

What every part of a Signal8 company page shows, from the header metrics and tab row to the Overview cards, and which pieces need a free account or Pro.

Getting started · 5 min read

A Tour of the Signal8 Terminal

How the Signal8 Terminal is laid out, what each band, rail and dock pane shows, how to load and share a symbol, and which panes are part of Pro.

Getting started · 5 min read

The Signal8 Mobile App for iPhone and Android

What the Signal8 app for iOS and Android does, how to sign in, turn on push alerts, lock the app with Face ID, and buy or restore Signal8 Pro.

Research pages · 6 min read

The Signal8 Dilution Tab, Card by Card

A walkthrough of every card on Signal8's Dilution tab, what each figure means, how coverage works, and why "Not measured" never means zero.

Research pages · 6 min read

How to Read the Dilution Pressure Score: Score, Max Measured and Risk Levels

The seven components of Signal8's Dilution Pressure Score, why it reads as points out of points measured, and how the risk levels and lower bounds work.

Research pages · 5 min read

Signal8's Premarket Scanner: What Every Column Means

A column-by-column guide to Signal8's scanner in the premarket session, from Gap % and RVOL to float, short interest, squeeze score and catalysts.

Research pages · 5 min read

Signal8 Screeners: Movers, Halts, Dilution, Must-Raise and Delisting

What each board in Signal8's screeners hub lists, how its columns and presets work, how often it refreshes, and which boards need an account or Pro.

Research pages · 5 min read

Insider Trades and Institutional Holdings on Signal8

How to read Signal8's insider pages (Form 4 codes, cluster buys, P&L leaderboards) and institution pages (13F holdings, position changes, derivatives).

Research pages · 5 min read

Researching Congressional and Executive Trades on Signal8

How Signal8's politician pages work, from trades and late-filing flags to estimated P&L, conflicts and campaign finance, and why dollar figures are estimates.

Alerts & automation · 5 min read

Setting Up Alerts on Signal8

How Signal8 alerts work: tracking companies, insiders, institutions and politicians, choosing event categories, turning on delivery channels, and plan limits.

Alerts & automation · 5 min read

Watchlists on Signal8 and How They Connect to Alerts

How Signal8's watchlist works, where the watch buttons are, how the watchlist and alerts are the same list, and how the Terminal's watchlist rail differs.

Alerts & automation · 6 min read

The Signal8 Discord Channels and What Each One Claims

A grouped guide to Signal8's automated Discord alert channels, what event each posts, where the data comes from, and what each post does not claim.

Developers · 5 min read

Using the Signal8 MCP Server with Claude, Cursor and Other AI Tools

Connect Signal8's MCP server to Claude, Claude Code or Cursor, authenticate with a key or sign-in, and try ten example prompts built on real tool names.

Developers · 4 min read

Signal8 API Quickstart: Keys, Authentication and Rate Limits

How to create a Signal8 API key, authenticate requests, read the rate-limit headers and handle errors, with a first request you can run with curl.