Walt, host of Fault Line LedgerFAULT LINE LEDGER
Read the drawer, not the lobby

SVB's $15 billion hole sat in one table of its annual report. Learn to find the next one yourself.

A spreadsheet and a 26-page field guide that walk you through any public company's filings on debt, cash burn and insider sales. Fifteen checks, each matched to the collapse where it mattered.

Type in about 20 numbers and six yes-or-no answers. Get 15 checks marked RED, WATCH or CLEAR.

Buy the spreadsheet and guide

$37 plus local tax. Instant download. Secure checkout. All sales are final.

Cover of the Red Flags Spreadsheet field guide, with Walt's portrait in a gold medallion
D1Debt loadD2Interest coverD3Maturity wallD4Hidden obligationsD5Going-concern doubtC1Cash burn yearsC2RunwayC3Profit without cashC4Paper lossesC5Losses outgrowing salesI1Insider sellingI2Fresh-plan salesI3Pledged sharesI4Deals with insidersI5Auditor or CFO exit D1Debt loadD2Interest coverD3Maturity wallD4Hidden obligationsD5Going-concern doubtC1Cash burn yearsC2RunwayC3Profit without cashC4Paper lossesC5Losses outgrowing salesI1Insider sellingI2Fresh-plan salesI3Pledged sharesI4Deals with insidersI5Auditor or CFO exit
The question in every comment section

"How many other Enrons are there now?"

That one comes up under almost every video. So does this: The mark-to-market explanation was the clearest part for me. You don't want more drama. You want to see the mechanics, plainly, and then look at a company you care about and know what you're looking at.

I won't hand you a list of the next ones to fall. Naming a company the next Enron is a guess wearing a suit. What I can hand you is the reading. Toys R Us printed its debt load every year for 12 years. WeWork showed a $1.93 billion loss on $1.82 billion of revenue in its own IPO filing. Silicon Valley Bank's bonds were worth about $15 billion less than it paid, against about $16 billion of equity, in a table anyone could open. The numbers turned first. The headlines came later.

This kit is that reading, cut down to 15 checks. You type in numbers from the filings. The spreadsheet tells you which drawer to open first.

Walt
Fault Line Ledger
One check, free

D3, the maturity wall

Companies rarely pay debt back. They roll it into new debt. That works until lenders say no, and the debt note tells you when that day is coming. Here's the check, exactly as the spreadsheet runs it.

Reading the lobby

Sales up 15% in two years. A new store format. A press release about record holiday traffic. The stock chart looks fine.

Nothing here tells you whether the company can pay what it owes next year.

Reading the drawer

Debt due in 2 yearsCash
Due next year$110M
Due the year after$200M
Cash on hand$64M
Maturity wall4.8x, RED

Above 1x means more debt is coming due than the company has in the bank. Someone has to lend it $246M, on their terms.

Where it mattered. In 2017 Toys R Us faced about $400 million of debt due in 2018. Suppliers heard and asked for cash up front before the holidays. It filed for Chapter 11 that September.

The example uses Harbor Lane, the made-up practice company that comes filled in, so you can watch every check fire before you type a number.

Try it on your company

Get the blank maturity wall sheet, free

The D3 check you just read, as a one-sheet spreadsheet. Type in two years of debt maturities and the cash on hand, and it marks your company RED, WATCH or CLEAR.

You'll also get emails from Fault Line Ledger. Unsubscribe any time.

What you get

A working system, filled in and blank

8

Spreadsheet sheets

The 15 checks, a blank company with every formula ready, an insider log, a filled practice company, case files and a filing map. Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.

26

Pages of field guide

One page per check: how to run it, a worked example, the case it came from, the line nobody read and one thing to do today.

6

Collapses, sourced

Enron, Toys R Us, WeWork, Silicon Valley Bank, Bed Bath & Beyond and Wirecard, each with the filings and court records named.

The debt drawer

  • Debt load
  • Interest cover
  • Maturity wall
  • Hidden obligations
  • Going-concern doubt

The cash drawer

  • Cash burn years
  • Runway
  • Profit without cash
  • Paper losses
  • Losses outgrowing sales

The insider drawer

  • Insider selling
  • Fresh-plan sales
  • Pledged shares
  • Deals with insiders
  • Auditor or CFO exit
Inside the guide

Real pages

Guide page for check D1, debt load, with a worked example and a flag scale
Every check gets a page like this one.
A full practice company scored across all 15 checks
A full company, scored: 17 of 30.
Map of the six SEC filings that hold all 15 checks
Where every number lives.
Guide page for check C1, cash burn years
The cash drawer.
Part three opener, the insider drawer, over an engraving of Caius Marius on the ruins of Carthage
Each drawer opens with a full engraving.
The guide's cover
The cover.
Walt
Who made this

Walt, Fault Line Ledger

I read what companies leave in the drawers. The lobby has the logo and the press release. The drawer has the debt note, the Form 4s and the sentence in the auditor's report nobody quoted. Fault Line Ledger tells the stories of companies that fell, through their own numbers, and nobody gets called a fraud there without a court record or a filing behind it.

15checks, each tied to a real case
6collapses, filings named
6filing types mapped
0stock picks or tips

Every case number comes from the company's own filings, court petitions or regulators' reports, listed at the back of the guide. Sources checked November 6, 2026. The score tells you how much to read, not what to buy or sell.

Questions

Before you buy

I've never read a 10-K. Is this too advanced?

It's built for people who haven't. Each input names the statement and the line to copy from, and the practice company is filled in so you can see what a finished sheet looks like. Your first company takes about an hour.

Will it tell me which stocks are going to crash?

No, and nothing honest can. It tells you which warning signs are present, how serious each one is, and which case showed the same sign. You decide what it means for your money or your job.

Does it work for my employer or a company I'm thinking of joining?

Yes, if it's publicly traded in the US and files with the SEC. Private companies don't publish these filings.

What software do I need?

Excel, Google Sheets or Apple Numbers. Every formula uses plain functions that all three understand.

How do I get it?

You download the spreadsheet and the PDF guide right after checkout. They work on a laptop, and the guide reads fine on a phone.

Can I get a refund?

All sales are final. This is a digital download you get right away, so we don't offer refunds. This doesn't affect any rights you have by law. The free check, the contents and the real pages above are here so you can judge it before you buy.

The numbers turn first. Now you can read them.

15 checks, 8 sheets, a 26-page guide and six collapses traced through their own filings.

Type in about 20 numbers and six yes-or-no answers. Get 15 checks marked RED, WATCH or CLEAR.

Buy the spreadsheet and guide

$37 plus local tax. Instant download. Secure checkout. All sales are final.

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