Conservative Investors Sleep Well
Phil Fisher’s second best book after the much better known “Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits”. Consists of three core sections: Superiority in Production, Marketing, Research, and Financial Skills; the People Factor; and Investment Characteristics of Some Business (this last section can be thought of as a discussion of franchises and of competitive advantage). Includes a fourth section: price, but that was never Fisher’s primary concern.
I like “Conservative Investors Sleep Well” just as much as I like “Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits”. However, I should warn you, I’m about the only one that values the insights in both books equally. It hardly matters, because you no longer have to choose. You can now buy them together in a single edition.
Comments
Geoff,
Amazon says that Conservative Investors Sleep Well is 180 pages long, but the version in Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings is only 50 pages long. Do you know whether this is an abridged version?
Josh
Posted by: Josh Distler | April 18, 2006 11:48 PM
To my knowledge "Conservative Investors Sleep Well" hasn't appeared as a stand alone product since the late seventies or thereabout (which means it wasn't in print for very long).
The book did run about 180 pages. There seem to be a couple different copies circulating with different numbers of pages, but all are around the 180 number you mentioned.
I'm not sure it would be possible to acquire any such copy for less than $200. It may be a great deal more than that. I don’t know. I personally have never read "Conservative Investors Sleep Well" as a stand alone product.
I will post this question on the main blog and see if anyone knows the answer.
Posted by: Geoff Gannon | April 19, 2006 09:49 AM
I posted your question to the main blog to see if any readers might know the answer.
A very reliable source said that only the first six chapters are reproduced in the collected works. The original has eight more chapters.
I hope that helps.
Posted by: Geoff Gannon | April 19, 2006 05:35 PM