In addition, companies focused on meeting Wall Street's quarterly earnings estimates may forgo beneficial long-term actions if they cause a short-term hit to earnings. First, companies with good labor relations usually make every effort to settle employee grievances quickly.

Philip Fisher: History, Market Impact, FAQs - Investopedia Philip Fisher: History, Market Impact, FAQs - Investopedia

When you scuttlebutt, you make more informed decisions due a better basis for analysis and valuation. The accounting scandals that led to the bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom should highlight the importance of investing only with management teams of unquestionable integrity. All markets eventually mature, and to maintain above-average growth over a period of decades, a company must continually develop new products to either expand existing markets or enter new ones. He managed the company's affairs until his retirement in 1999 at the age of 91, and is reported to have made his clients extraordinary investment gains. Investors will be well-served by following Fisher's warning that regardless of how highly a company rates on the other 14 points, "If there is a serious question of the lack of a strong management sense of trusteeship for shareholders, the investor should never seriously consider participating in such an enterprise.

Fisher argued that investors should take a long-range view, and thus should favor companies that take a long-range view on profits. Targeting small investors, Ken Fisher used techniques like junk mail and free publications to build his client base.

The 15 Point Checklist For Identifying Worthwhile Investments

However, in an industry such as insurance, a completely different set of business factors is important.

His most famous investment was his purchase of Motorola, a company he bought in 1955 when it was a radio manufacturer, and held it until his death. It is critical for an investor to understand which industry factors determine the success of a company and how that company stacks up in relation to its rivals. As an investor, you should seek companies with sufficient cash or borrowing capacity to fund growth without diluting the interests of its current owners with follow-on equity offerings. He further described how using Fisher's "scuttlebutt" technique continues to be a good way to investing, which is still used by Ted Weschler and Todd Combs at Berkshire Hathaway. Fisher warned investors to avoid companies where top management is reluctant to delegate significant authority to lower-level managers.

Philip A. Fisher Collected Works, Foreword by Ken Fisher

Fisher noted that in companies where the founding family retains control, family members should not be promoted ahead of more able executives. Today, Fisher Investments and its subsidiaries operate in 13 offices across eight countries and serve over 100,000 clients globally. Fisher suggests investors use the "business grapevine" and "scuttlebutt," techniques to actively network and gather information about the companies in which they invest. Salaries should also be reviewed regularly so that merited pay increases are given without having to be demanded.A company seeking a sustained period of spectacular growth must have products that address large and expanding markets.