Philip Fisher R.I.P.

Philip Fisher's writings, along with with Warren Buffett's, David Dreman's, and Irwin Michael's, are pretty much responsible for any investing success I've had to date. I never thought of writing to Fisher while he was alive, to express my thanks for making fundamental analysis comprehensible to a 25 year old bookseller, so this belated shout out will have to do. Thanks, Philip!

(from the New York Times)

Philip A. Fisher, Author of Key Investment Book, Dies at 96
By STUART LAVIETES

Published: April 19, 2004


Philip A. Fisher, who wrote one of the first investment books to appear on the New York Times best-seller list, "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits," a 1958 guide to growth-stock investing that the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett has cited as a major influence on his career, died at his home in San Mateo, Calif., on March 11. He was 96.

His death was reported by his son Kenneth L. Fisher in a column in the current issue of Forbes magazine.

Still in print, "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" outlines Mr. Fisher's buy-and-hold approach to investing and his method for identifying stocks that have a strong potential for long-term growth. In the book's "15 Points to Look for in a Common Stock," he advised readers to invest in innovative companies that are world leaders in their field, have a commitment to research and development and are led by executives of unquestioned quality and integrity.

He also told readers to limit the number of stocks in their portfolio and to limit turnover even further. "If the job has been correctly done when a common stock is purchased," he wrote, "the time to sell is almost never."

Following his own advice, Mr. Fisher invested in technology companies like Texas Instruments and Motorola for the long haul. He bought Motorola stock in 1955, when the company was still a radio manufacturer, and held its shares until his death.

Philip Arthur Fisher was born in 1907 in San Francisco. A graduate of Stanford with a bachelor's degree in economics, and a veteran of the Army Air Corps, he started an investment counseling firm, Fisher & Company, in 1932. He retired in 1999 at 91.

Mr. Fisher's books, which also include "Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks"(1960) and "Conservative Investors Sleep Well"(1975), influenced generations of investors, including Mr. Buffett.

"I sought out Phil Fisher after reading his `Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits' and `Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks' in the early 1960's," Mr. Buffett wrote in a 1987 article in Forbes. "From him I learned the value of the `scuttlebutt' approach: Go out and talk to competitors, suppliers and customers to find out how an industry or a company really operates."

In addition to his son Kenneth, of Woodside, Calif., Mr. Fisher is survived by his wife of 61 years, Dorothy; his sister, Caroline E. Fisher of Belmont, Calif.; two other sons, Arthur of Seattle and Donald of Lakeside, Ore.; 11 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Fisher also offered readers suggestions on finding a portfolio manager. In a 1987 interview with Forbes, he said that he always urged investors to ask for detailed transcripts from prospective advisers to scrutinize their record.

"If they take losses and small losses quickly and let their profits run, give them a gold star," he said. "If they take their profits quickly and let their losses run, don't go near them."

- posted by cjb @ 8:36 PM