Phillip Fisher's 15 points to look for in a common stock.

Have been reading the investment classic "Common Stock and Uncommon Profit" by Phillip Fisher, who is actually known as a pioneer of growth investing. Warren Buffet has said on numerous occasions that he is 85% Benjamin Graham (known as the father of value investing) and 15% Phillip Fisher. In this book he talks about the 15 points investors should look for when deciding to buy a common stock an those are:

1) Does the company have products or services with sufficient market potential to make possible a sizeable increase in sales for at least several years?

2) Does the management have a determiantion to continue to develop products or processes that will still further increase total sales potential when growth potential of currently attractive product lines have largely been exploited?

3) How effective are the company's research and development efforts in relation to its size?

4) Does the company have above-average sales organization?

5) Does the company have a worthwhile profit margin?

6) What is the company doing to maintain or improve profit margin?

7) Does the company have outstanding labor or personnel relations?

8) Does the company have outstanding executive relations?

9) Does the management have depth of management?

10) How good are the companies cost analysis and accounting control?

11) Are ther other aspects of the business, somewhat peculiar to the industry involved, which will give the investor clues as to how outstanding the company may be in relation to its competitors?

12) Does company have a short range or long range outlook in regards to profit?

13) In the forseeable future will growth of the company require sufficient equity financing so that the larger number of shares then outstanding will largely cancel the existing stockholders benefit from anticipated growth?

14) Does the management talk freely to investors about its affairs when things are going well but "clam up" when troubles and disappointment occur?

15) Does the company have management of unquestionable integrity?

These 15 points should be the start of your research when looking to buy into a companies stock and in the coming weeks, we will look to delve more into each one of these points.