Common stocks and uncommon profits

Table of contents:
Preface What I Learned from My Father’s Writings xi;
Kenneth L. Fisher;
Introduction 1;
Kenneth L. Fisher;
Part One Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits;
Preface 31;
1. Clues from the Past 34;
2. What “Scuttlebutt” Can Do 44;
3. What to Buy: The Fifteen Points to Look for in a Common Stock 47;
4. What to Buy: Applying This to Your Own Needs 79;
5. When to Buy 89;
6. When to Sell: And When Not To 105;
7. The Hullabaloo about Dividends 114;
8. Five Don’ts for Investors 123;
9. Five More Don’ts for Investors 135;
10. How I Go about Finding a Growth Stock 162;
11. Summary and Conclusion 172;
Part Two Conservative Investors Sleep Well;
Epigraph 176;
Introduction 177;
1. The First Dimension of a Conservative Investment 180;
2. The Second Dimension 187;
3. The Third Dimension 198;
4. The Fourth Dimension 207;
5. More about the Fourth Dimension 213;
6. Still More about the Fourth Dimension 218;
Part Three Developing an Investment Philosophy;
Dedication to Frank E. Block 226;
1. Origins of a Philosophy 227;
The Birth of Interest 228;
Formative Experiences 229;
First Lessons in the School of Experience 231;
Building the Basics 232;
The Great Bear Market 234;
A Chance to Do My Thing 235;
From Disaster, Opportunity Springs 236;
A Foundation is Formed 237;
2. Learning from Experience 238;
Food Machinery as an Investment Opportunity 239;
Zigging and Zagging 242;
Contrary, but Correct 243;
Patience and Performance 244;
To Every Rule,There Are Exceptions . . . But Not Many 247;
An Experiment with Market Timing 248;
Reaching for Price, Foregoing Opportunity 249;
3. The Philosophy Matures 252;
E Pluribus Unum 253;
History versus Opportunity 255;
Lessons from the Vintage Years 257;
Do Few Things Well 259;
Stay or Sell in Anticipation of Possible Market Downturns? 260;
In and Out May Be Out of the Money 263;
The Long Shadow of Dividends 264;
4. Is the Market Efficient? 266;
The Fallacy of the Efficient Market 267;
The Raychem Corporation 270;
Raychem, Dashed Expectations, and the Crash 271;
Raychem and the Efficient Market 274;
Conclusion 275;
Appendix Key Factors in Evaluating Promising Firms 279;
Functional Factors 279;
People Factors 281;
Business Characteristics 282;
Index 283.