📖Philip Fisher

Own Few Excellent Stocks

🌿 Intermediate★★★★★

Own few stocks and know them well.

💬

Owning stocks in more companies than one can remain informed about is foolish. It is better to own a few outstanding companies than many mediocre ones.

— Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits,1958

🏠 Everyday Analogy

A process is like a pilot checklist: discipline prevents simple mistakes when pressure rises and keeps outcomes more repeatable.

📖 Core Interpretation

Philip Fisher advocates a repeatable process: define criteria, execute consistently, and review decisions against evidence. Process quality drives outcome consistency.
💎 Key Insight:Concentrated portfolios of quality outperform diversified mediocrity.

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❓ Why It Matters

Without process, there is no reliable feedback loop. Structured execution and review improve decision quality over time.

🎯 How to Practice

Run a decision loop of research, thesis, execution, and post-mortem; document assumptions and update playbooks with evidence, not hindsight bias.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Having opinions without execution criteria
Reviewing outcomes but not decisions
Abandoning rules during volatility spikes

📚 Case Studies

1
Texas Instruments Evaluation (1960)
Fisher analyzed Texas Instruments using the Fifteen Points, focusing on technological leadership and profit-margin durability rather than short-term earnings fluctuations.
✨ Outcome:Maintained conviction through volatility; investment paid off over time as semiconductor demand and TI’s competitive advantages grew.
2
Holding During 1973–74 Bear Market (1973)
Growth stocks, including Fisher-style holdings, fell sharply during the 1973–74 market crash.
✨ Outcome:Investors who followed Fisher’s philosophy and held high‑quality growth companies saw strong recoveries and long-term outperformance as earnings and markets normalized.

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