Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Phil Fisher on examining sentiment

From Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings:
This...example brings into clear relief what the common stock investor must do if he is to purchase shares to his greatest advantage. He must examine factually and analytically the prevailing financial sentiment about both the industry and the specific company of which he is considering buying shares. If he can find an industry or a company where the prevailing style or mode of financial thinking is considerably less favorable than the actual facts warrant, he may reap himself an extra harvest by not following the crowd. He should be extra careful when buying into companies and industries that are the current darlings of the financial community, to be sure that these purchases are actually warranted—as at times they well may be—and that he is not paying a fancy price for something which, because of too favorable interpretation of basic facts, is the investment fad of the moment.