Every investor would like to select a list of securities that will do better than the average over a period of years. A growth stock may be defined as one which has done this in the past and is expected to do so in the future.
(A company with an ordinary record cannot, without confusing the term, be called a growth company or a "growth stock" merely because its proponent expects it to do better than the average in the future. It is just a "promising company.")
Thus it seems only logical that the intelligent investor should concentrate upon the selection of growth stocks.
Actually the matter is more complicated.
The pursue of this aspect of investment policy require more ability and application than most investors can bring to bear on the problem.
The stock of a growing company, if purchasable at a suitable price, is obviously preferable to others.
No matter how enthusiastic the investor may feel about the prospects of a particular company, however, he should set a limit upon the price that he is willing to pay for such prospects.
In the case of a growth company, we should recommended payment of a premium for the growth potential not to exceed about 50% of the value determined without it.
Such a rule would result at times in the missing of an unusually good opportunity.
More often, it would mean the investor's saving himself from "going overboard" on an issue that looked especially good to him and everyone else and consequently was selling much too high.
The choice between the attractive issue that turns out well and the one that does poorly is by no means easy to make in the growth-stock field.
However, superior results may be obtained in this field if the choices are competently made. Even with careful selection, some of the individual issues may fare relatively poorly.
Thus for good results in the growth-stock field there is need not only for skillful analysis but for ample diversification as well.
Summary
The enterprising investor may properly buy growth stocks.
He should beware of paying excessively for them, and he might well limit the price by some practical rule.
A growth-stock program will not be automatically successful; its outcome will depend on the foresight and judgement of the investor or his advisers rather than on any clear-cut methods of analysis.
Benjamin Graham
Intelligent Investor
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