VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
BOOK BREAKDOWN
NO ADVICE
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Intermediate · 2003
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
by Philip A. Fisher, Kenneth L. Fisher · Partly Dated
A qualitative growth-investing playbook: find exceptional companies through "scuttlebutt," validate durability (moat + management + margins + reinvestment), buy at sensible prices, and hold for a long time.
Level
Intermediate
Strategies
4 types
Frameworks
5 frameworks
Rating
Target Audience
Ideal Reader
- Investors who want a repeatable qualitative research process (not just ratios)
- Growth/quality investors looking for 'what to look for' beyond the financial statements
- Anyone building a long-term concentrated portfolio (and wants guardrails)
- People who want better questions to ask about moats, management, and reinvestment
May Not Suit
- Short-term traders
- Investors who want a valuation textbook (DCF-heavy, accounting deep dive)
- Pure passive indexers who are not interested in single-stock research
- Anyone unwilling to do real research outside the 10-K/10-Q
Investor Fit
| Strategy | Growth Investing · Quality Investing · Behavioral Finance · Portfolio Management |
| Time Horizon | Long-term (5+ years) |
| Asset Focus | Equities |
| Math Level | Basic Arithmetic |
| Prerequisites | Can read basic financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow) · Willing to do qualitative research (customers/suppliers/competitors, industry context) |
Key Learnings
- 1Great outcomes come from owning exceptional businesses, not from constant trading
- 2Scuttlebutt: real edge can come from structured conversations and cross-checking, not from inside info
- 3The best companies keep compounding because they can reinvest at high returns for a long time
- 4Management quality and integrity are central - numbers lag culture and incentives
- 5Watch profit margins and, more importantly, whether the company can maintain/improve them without just raising prices
- 6R&D and innovation matter as an input to long-run durability (not as a slogan)
- 7Concentration can make sense when you truly understand what you own - diversify enough to survive being wrong
- 8Selling is often overdone; if the original work was correct, long holding periods can be the advantage
- 9Avoid crowded 'darling' industries and consensus trades; independent thinking matters
- 10Time matters as much as price for true compounders (waiting for the perfect price can cost you the whole move)
Frameworks (5)
Formulas (3)
Case Studies (1)
Raychem (in later writings included in this edition)
Used to illustrate how market pricing can diverge from business reality and how patience + understanding can matter.
Takeaway
Markets can misprice even strong businesses; the edge is knowing the business well enough to hold through noise.
✓ Still relevant today
Notable Quotes
“If the job has been correctly done when a common stock is purchased, the time to sell it is almost never.”
“When profit margins of a whole industry rise because of repeated price increases, the indication is not a good one for the long-range investor.”
Mental Models
- —Scuttlebutt as an investigative method (triangulate reality from multiple angles)
- —Durability > brilliance: moat + reinvestment runway drive compounding
- —Management integrity as a risk-control layer
- —Time arbitrage: long-term focus can beat short-term noise
- —Concentration with humility: size positions according to understanding + downside risk
- —Selling discipline: most mistakes come from bad buys, not from not selling fast enough
Key Terms
No glossary terms documented for this book.
Limitations & Caveats
Keep in mind
- •Qualitative research is time-intensive and hard to standardize
- •High risk of confirmation bias if you scuttlebutt only supportive sources
- •Less guidance on valuation mechanics (easy to overpay for quality)
- •Concentration can magnify mistakes; you need survivability and humility
- •Harder to apply to opaque businesses, regulated financials, or early-stage/pre-profit companies
Related Books
Reading Guide
Priority Reading
- What Scuttlebutt Can Do
- The Fifteen Points to Look for in a Common Stock
- When to Sell: And When Not To
- Five Don'ts / Five More Don'ts
Optional Sections
- —Some era-specific anecdotes if you only want the process
Ratings
Concept Tags
Ready to apply these frameworks?
See concepts from this book applied to real companies with moat scores and segment analysis.
View the moat stocks listLooking for more reading?
Explore our curated collection of investing books organized by level and strategy.
Browse more booksCuration & Accuracy
This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).
Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.