The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition)

Bought this book with an eye towards value stock picking. I've read a few others, most notably Peter Lynch, and dabbled with a few thousand while keeping my savings in cash.

Graham and his commentators seem to have no agenda other than what's best for the investor. Before I got to chapter 8 he had convinced me that individual stock picking was a waste of my time. Dollar cost averaging into Index Funds and ETFs while they're cheap, balancing towards bonds when they're not; these are easy "set and forget" strategies and Graham has convinced me that they pay off.

I'll still buy a few individual stocks, just like I still like to shoot craps in Vegas. Take a small amount and be willing to lose it. For the rest of my savings I'll do the hardest thing for a "Defensive" Investor: leave it alone.

After being a stockbroker, and starting to deal with the market when I was 18, this book makes the best sense of the thinking process for investing. I first read this when my father gave me a copy when I turned 18. It still makes a great deal of sense and is rewritten in areas with up to date examples that are pertinent for today. Get it and read it! But most of all try and practice this discipline.

Take a deep breath. If there was ever a time to sit back and revisit some of Benjamin Graham's sage advice, this is it. Just this weekend the Wall Street Journal reported that in the ten years ended 12/31/07, the Dow never saw a 9% trading range within a single day. This year it has happened six times. What would Graham think of today's volatility? I wouldn't be so presumptuous to put words into his mouth, but if I had to guess, I think he would assert that there are pockets of opportunity for the enterprising investor who adheres to Graham's three elements of investing.

While not as academic as Security Analysis, The Intelligent Investor still does a remarkable job of explaining fundamental investment analysis concepts: risk management, valuation, investment versus speculation, margin of safety, and asset allocation, among others. But most impressive is the fact that the man who taught Warren Buffet about investing manages to discuss highly technical concepts in plain English, while leveraging case studies and unusual market events from the first half of the 20th century to add a sense of realism to theory. All of this makes the book an enjoyable and instructive read, and you can take the history lesson as an added bonus.

Another invaluable benefit of this edition is Jason Zweig's commentary throughout the book. After every chapter, Zweig presents a 21st century point of view, relating concepts and historical examples in the text to situations faced by today's companies. Some of the most outrageous examples from current times involve bankrupt and de-listed internet companies, and comments by management, analysts, and members of the financial press that are astonishing in retrospect. Zweig also does an outstanding job in the footnotes - elaborating on Graham's concepts or explaining dated material in the text that today's reader may not understand - from long forgotten stories of financial scandal to observations about Manhattan architecture.

The Intelligent Investor is a must read for anyone thinking of going into finance or currently employed in the industry. In a market where many asset managers seem to have abandoned basic analysis and sound due diligence in pursuit of a short cut to outsized (and ultimately unsustainable) returns, you might want to ask your advisor if he has read any or Graham's works. And if the answer is no, perhaps you should find someone who has.

1. All I learn from this book till now is 'margin of safety'. Keep your investment safe, then profit. About how to keep it safe, I haven't learned from this book yet. I guess I need to read this book again and again. PS, I am not a native English speaker, and there are some many new words in the book, and how Graham speaks English is quite 60s or even older for me.
2. I read the other book 'The Interpretation of Financial Statements' of his. I feel I know more about how to analysis.

The Intelligent Investor is a dense, informative, comprehensive, and quite difficult textbook that will reward diligent study with a depth of knowledge that would be hard to find elsewhere.

That Warren Buffet, at the age of nineteen, was able to appreciate the wisdom imparted by Benjamin Graham in this book, is as much a tribute to Buffet's intellect as it is to the clarity of the text.

Originally published in 1950, the book is in its fourth revised edition originally published in 1973, and brought up to date for the twenty-first century by copious footnotes by Jason Zweig.

Highly recommended for the diligent intelligent investor.