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  • Home » Worlds Greatest Investors » Philip Fisher
  • Mr. Philip Fisher

    Philip Fisher – Making Uncommon profits from common stocks

    Best Quote: I do not want a lot of good investments I want a few outstanding ones. If a job has been correctly done when the common stock has been purchased, the time to sell it is almost never.

    What would have Fisher bought in India ?

    Philip Fisher qualifies as one of the few selected investing legends who recommended, bought held and made money in technology stocks. the late 40's and early 50's he bought stocks like Dow Chemicals, Texas instruments and Motorola. While these stocks declined as severely as the others in a bear market they outperformed the others in stable and bull markets.

    Fisher started his investment banking business in 1931 – after the great depression. He handled only a few clients and refused to temptation of large scale churning.This helped him cut down on administration and also eliminate transaction costs. Fisher disliked extravaganza for years he wore the same over coat and drove his dilapidated stripped down car Oldsmobile 6. The idea of buying a new car did not seem to make any "financial "sense to him.

    Fisher hated to sell good companies. He argued that if a stock becomes over priced  investors should sit down with it rather then sell the stock with a view to buy it back at a lower price. He  discouraged selling in anticipation of a market fall. Fisher would normally say that stocks sometimes go up because of good news that common investor is are unaware of.

    Old companies operating in mature businesses could not be categorized as conservative businesses. Fisher's definition of a conservative investment was a dynamic, well-managed company having a good product portfolio and doing all that it could to grow, prosper and create value year after year.

    It is hard to do a subjective analysis of a company from the published literature. The astute investor has to rely on the business grape wine. Fisher termed this scuttlebutt.The best areas to get information were at trade fairs where different companies assembled with their products and helped the intelligent investor make his case. People who buy a company's products carry valuable information, as do  suppliers and purchasers.As a part of his analysis Fisher also looked for a smart sales teamin the company. He liked managements that embarked on cost cutting measures and which avoided extravagant spending.



    Key learning:

    Look for these Company specific attributes:

    • Dominant Industry player
    • Growth from existing Products
    • High and expanding operating margins
    • High Return on Capital employed (ROCE)
    • Effective Sales and Research team
    • Scalable business model
    • Look for these management specific attributes
      • Honesty and Integrity
      • Conservative accounting policy
      • Long range plans
      • Financial controls,
      • Good personnel policies
      • Avoid companies run by managements that seek to issue the mselves cheap stock options.
    • High profit margin businesses attract competition. Fisher favors a slightly higher margin of profit with dominant market share. This he thought would discourage competitors from entering the business.
    • It is better to buy stock during the start up period of a new capacity expansion. At that time earnings are subdued with depreciation and interest costs.
    • Buy on a bad corporate news – strikes, temporary failure of a new product
    • Do not run after high dividend paying companies. Companies that pay a higher rate of dividend admit their inability to look for newer areas of growth.
    • Alwayslook for low PE companies that can grow their earnings. An earnings growth would re rate the stock upwards , which would later lead to another increase in stock price.

    Refrences:

    • Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits – Kenneth Fisher Money Masters of our Time – John Train
    • Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher, Kenneth L. Fisher
    • Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits (Wiley Investment Classic) by Philip A. Fisher

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