The story so far:
Got up this morning and thought on a whim that I would sort all the receipt, bills, check stubs I have received so far this year. ( I keep a bankers box to empty my pockets into and the paid bills. ) After an hour things were in some sort of order and I was 20 dollars richer having found some bills that accidentally dropped in the box.
A drive thru sorting business is one idea that is likely baked.
But the idea I came up with after seeing all the receipts is based on the fact that some business make small, easy to read, easy to understand receipts.
And some business use bad inks, really hard to handle or understand formats. One receipt has no way to contact the landlord after you mail in the top half with a check. Some have advertising. Some have several pages not fastened together. They are not created equal.
I noticed that Wall-mart and Wells Fargo had compact and fairly clear receipts. And these companies are doing well in the stock market.
A little boutique investment fund buying and selling stocks based on receipt analysis would at least have a unique perspective. Maybe hire some retried police document examiners and some stats guys.
"That firm receipts have a 55 mm excreted rectangle and a class 2b print quality and a comprehension quotient of four."
Nothing sells stocks like a story that at least seems to give you an edge.-- popbottle, Nov 17 2013 Definitely a halfbaked idea, but wouldn't companies with bad investment prospects start making "good" reciepts, and your investment fund slowly disappear to losses?-- rcarty, Nov 17 2013 Would it be a bad thing to have good receipts from most companies ?
Obviously this won't put Buffet or any major bank or broker out of business. You could expand to annual reports or product packaging or anything created by companies in the course of their real work.-- popbottle, Nov 17 2013 I might start a company that only makes reciepts, quarterly and annual reports. Obviously the reciepts would be for investors impressed by the quality of my reciepts and reports.-- rcarty, Nov 17 2013 If - I say "if" as if it could be any other way - the market is driven only by sentiment then yes there is cash to be made selling superstition to the credulous punter: size and form of receipts, the plushness and comfort head office reception couches, staff bathroom TP orientation, all of these as secret magick signifiers, correlative only but signifiers nonetheless, of an upward stock trajectory. A leather - is it leather? or is it in fact human skin? - bound book could be produced, toured round gentlemens' clubs near key bourses under heavy (and somewhat pallid) guard, with entirely reasonable fees of £150k per peep.-- calum, Nov 18 2013 random, halfbakery