Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
Philip Fisher was a pioneer of growth investing, and this 1958 book is his case for buying a small number of outstanding companies and holding them for the long run. He introduces his scuttlebutt method, the practice of learning about a business by talking to its customers, suppliers, competitors, and former employees rather than relying only on reports. His fifteen-point checklist for judging a company shaped how a generation thought about quality and management. Warren Buffett has said he is part Benjamin Graham and part Philip Fisher, crediting this book as one of the two main influences on his approach.
What you might want to know about Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Philip Fisher argues that the best returns come from holding shares in well-run growth companies, and lays out how to find them.
It is Philip Fisher's term for researching a company by talking to the people around it, including customers, suppliers, competitors, and former staff, to judge its real quality.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits was written by Philip Fisher, published in 1958 by Harper & Brothers.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits is 320 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.