What is a Morning Note?
At most equity research desks, the day starts with a morning meeting — typically at 7:00-7:30 AM before the market opens. Each analyst has 2-3 minutes to brief portfolio managers and traders on overnight developments, earnings surprises, and actionable trade ideas for their coverage universe. The morning note is the written version of this briefing, distributed via email or Slack.
A good morning note is tight, opinionated, and actionable. It leads with the single most important development (“Top Call”), covers overnight news, highlights today’s events, and includes any trade ideas. It should be readable in 2 minutes. Portfolio managers at firms like Fidelity, Wellington, or Point72 receive dozens of morning notes — only the ones with clear views and actionable information get read.
Morning notes should be opinionated. A note that only summarizes news without a view is not useful. Lead with the most important development and state your take clearly. If you are wrong, own it in the next day’s note — credibility matters more than being right every time.
Command Syntax
What It Produces
A tight, 1-page note readable in 2 minutes, including:
- Top Call — the single most important thing portfolio managers need to hear
- Overnight / Pre-Market Developments — earnings beats/misses, M&A, management changes, macro data
- Key Events Today — earnings calls, economic releases, conferences
- Trade Ideas — specific long/short ideas with thesis and key risk
- Quick Takes on Earnings — beat/miss table and 2-3 sentence reaction for any coverage company that reported
Output
- Markdown text for email/Slack distribution
- Word document if formal distribution is needed
- Maximum 1 page
How to Customize
- To add your firm’s distribution list or branding, edit the
morning-note skill file
- To connect to overnight news feeds, configure a news API in your
.mcp.json
