How FinWinds Works
A guide to using and contributing to the platform
What is FinWinds?
FinWinds is a community-driven research platform for identifying the headwinds and tailwinds facing publicly-traded companies. Search for any ticker to see what structural, macro, and business-level factors the community believes will help or hinder the company going forward.
Headwinds & Tailwinds
Each case submitted on FinWinds is classified as either a headwind or a tailwind:
🌬️ Headwind
A factor that works against the company — regulatory risk, rising input costs, losing market share, or an unfavourable macro environment.
💨 Tailwind
A factor that works in the company's favour — a growing addressable market, favourable policy, strong pricing power, or a secular trend.
What is a Case?
A case is a single, focused argument for why a specific factor is a meaningful headwind or tailwind for a company. Each case includes:
- A concise title (up to 100 characters)
- A description elaborating on the argument (up to 400 characters)
- A classification as a headwind or tailwind
- A category from the list below
Categories
Cases are categorised to make it easier to filter and analyse the type of factors at play:
Political
Government policy, elections, geopolitics
Economic
Interest rates, inflation, FX, credit cycles
Social
Demographics, consumer behaviour, public sentiment
Technological
Innovation, disruption, R&D advances
Legal
Litigation, regulation, compliance
Environmental
Climate, ESG, natural resources
Business internal
Strategy, management, operations
Business industry
Competitive dynamics, supply chain, industry trends
Other
Anything that doesn't fit elsewhere
Submitting a Case
To submit a case, search for a ticker and click "Add case" on the company page. You must be signed in.
Before submitting, please check the following guidelines:
- Be specific. A good case makes a focused, falsifiable claim — not a vague statement like "the economy is uncertain".
- Avoid duplicates. If a case covering the same argument already exists, upvote it rather than submitting a new one. Duplicate cases will be rejected.
- Be objective. Cases should represent genuine factors, not personal sentiment or price targets.
- Choose the right category. This helps others filter and analyse cases meaningfully.
- Keep it concise. The title should summarise the case in plain language. Use the description to add supporting detail.
Review Process
All submitted cases go through a moderation review before they appear publicly on the platform. During review, cases are checked for:
- Relevance to the company
- Duplication of an existing case
- Accuracy of the headwind / tailwind classification
- Quality and clarity of the title and description
- Adherence to community guidelines
If a case is rejected, a reason will be provided. Cases that are approved become visible on the company page and can be voted on by the community.
Voting & Impact
Once a case is live, any signed-in user can upvote or downvote it. The net vote balance (upvotes minus downvotes) determines a case's impact score — how much weight it carries in the aggregate wind direction charts. Cases with more net upvotes surface higher and contribute more to the prevailing wind direction gauge.
Reading the Charts
Each company page shows three summary charts:
- Net votes by wind direction — a bar chart comparing the aggregate vote balance of headwind vs tailwind cases.
- Prevailing wind direction — a gauge showing the overall sentiment, ranging from strong headwinds to strong tailwinds, weighted by vote impact.
- Net votes by category — a breakdown of net sentiment across the nine case categories, useful for identifying where the most meaningful factors sit.