Reads very much like a textbook, but a must read for anybody considering stepping outside the world of mutual funds and actually investing in individual companies by using a value based approach. This book will provide the basic tools on how to evaluate the intrinsic value of a company, which is the first step in determining whether a security is a worthy investment. Certainly not an easy read, but well worth the time and effort.

The 6th edition (which is the 75th anniversary of the 1st edition) has an absolutely wonderful and very heartfelt introduction by Buffett. This is actually a reprint of the 2nd edition but annotated by revered investors/academics, which I enjoyed. I have to warn this is basically a textbook and will come across as very dry. The first few times I read Graham I thought it was very dry but I've acclimated myself to him and now enjoy his writing. Graham is always very careful never to inject any flamboyance in his writings. He is, I believe, at heart a teacher (he taught at Columbia and UCLA for more than 30 years cumatively) but he was also a brilliant money manager. He invented the first hedge fund in the 20's (but doesn't get credit for it). Graham's style is like a scientist, if there is any doubt for a method, he will readily illuminate it for the reader. He is very understated so as not to ever elevate expectations for the student/investor. Getting back to the teacher, he wanted everyone to be able to apply his writings so the book is very quantitative (not heavy in math, just statements that can be delimited). I recommend Fisher for the qualitative. Graham addresses the qualitative in other writings, but the reader will probably pick up he is uncomfortable and/or apathetic with it and limits it as much as possible.

This is 5 stars not simply for the comprehensiveness but the originality. There is a time-period bias for the modern reader. Graham literally invented most of the methods and ideas in the book. He is a modern day Newton whereby he had to invent calculus to explain gravity, Graham invented fundamental investing and provided, if I can borrow from Sagan, a candle in the dark to illuminate the irrationality, ok I paraphrased from Sagan.

"There are no dependable ways of making money easily and quickly either in Wall Street or anywhere else."

...that doesn't mean it's impossible!

While this may be the most commonly cited first book on most value investors’ shelves I will say that after getting about half way through you'll get the gist. Margin of safety through a disciplined valuation framework is necessary to generate sustainable returns.

This book taught me the fundamentals of economics. Definitely made me feel more confident we it comes to managing my money.

I may never finish this tome since Graham has almost completely convinced me that I don't have enough time or capital to make active investing worthwhile. Nevertheless, it's an essential extension of The Intelligent Investor and much like the 2003 revised edition with Zweig's commentary, provides useful contemporary commentaries on Graham's original text. What I've read so far has been just as enjoyable as The Intelligent Investor if slightly less surprising since this is mostly an in-depth study of the same insights.

I read this book... twice! what serious investor wouldn't read this book?

In the 2008-9 edition I got each chapter was preceded by an introductory essay written by a highly regarded professional in finance/investment with at least 20 years of experience. They have made sure to let us know what part of the information written in 1940 is dated, and what is current, so this acts as a safenet for us readers. An amazing part of the book is timeless and focused on intelligent logical elaboration on stocks and bonds.

Benjamin Graham is the god father of security analysis or investing if you may. This book is for the serious to very serious investor.

It's heavy - not just the reading but the book itself is hard to hold in one's hand and a lot of the examples are over half a century old.

Graham grew up poor and one incident that took place when he was little changed him forever. His mother was insulted by a banker who questioned her credit worthiness. That went deep into his psyche.

He married four times and spent the last days with his mistress in the South of France, and died a very rich man.

A difficult read but worth it.


Vivek Rajan Vivek
A Great Sage and A Rascal Named Doku
www.vivekrajanvivek.com

Own an existing copy - 6th edition

About the edition:
I read the most recent 6th edition which is essentially an abridged 2nd edition plus some industry gurus' comments on each part and the relevance to today's investment. People also recommend replacing the first part of the 2nd edition with 3rd edition which is more detailed and comprehensive.

I think the 2nd edition flows better than the 3rd. It started with evaluation of company for bond investment and followed by the idea that stock evaluation should be built on the bond evaluation since common stock represents a non-enforceable claim on the company’s cash flows and earnings, which is inherently less safe than bond and relies more on the accuracy of the earning estimation and works with a much leaner margin of safety.

The best book I read on quantitative analysis so far.