Stage 1 Heavy
A heavy cut compound and a wool polishing pad, will level the clearcoat really nicely and basically does all of your defect removal, but it's a messy job that creates dust all over the place and leaves fairly heavy machine swirls in the finish. If you seen a car freshly posised with heavy swirling or a hologram like effect like an old baseball card then its probably been heavy cut without any additional steps. You will usually see this type of work from body shops, dealerships or inexperienced detailers. They are essentially removing defects but not leaving behind the desired finish. Finishing the work takes time as you're are completely polishing the car three times.