The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "THIS CHAPTER will outline the viewpoints that will be set forth in the remainder of the book..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"By far the best book on investing ever written." (Warren Buffett )

"The wider Mr. Graham's gospel spreads, the more fairly the market will deal with its public." (Barron's )

"If you read just one book on investing during your lifetime, make it this one" (Fortune )

Product Description

More than one million hardcovers sold
Now available for the first time in paperback!

The Classic Text Annotated to Update Graham's Timeless Wisdom for Today's Market Conditions

The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.

Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham's strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham's original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today's market, draws parallels between Graham's examples and today's financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham's principles.

Vital and indispensable, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060752610
• ISBN-13: 978-0060752613
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,973 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Text Laying Out Solid Principles of Value Investing, June 13, 2005

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

When Warren Buffett says that this book is by far the best book ever written on investing one has to take notice. While "The Intelligent Investor" exists in print in several editions, (4th rev edition 0060155477, 2003 rev edition w/ Jason Zweig 0060555661, and some audio book versions), this is a reprint of the original 1949 edition and has several virtues.

It is the original statement of what has come to be called Value Investing. This is a very philosophical book more than a book of techniques or methods of investing. Mr. Graham writes firmly and clearly about where the Investor's interests really lie. He is very hard on brokers, whose profession he considered more of a semi-profession because they have their own interests at heart more than those of their client. He also makes a strong case of about the kinds of returns one can expect from the market versus a company one actively manages. If investors of the 1990s had headed his views on management and their interests not being aligned with those of shareholders a lot less money would have been lost.

In several places he states that shareholders need to act more like owners and should not simply submit to management or let them have free reign with the resources of the company. He also advocated the importance of an independent board of directors rather than a board of management cronies. He rejects the notion of simply selling shares if you don't like the way the company is being managed. That is a dereliction of their duty as owners.

There is also a discussion of a variety of approaches to investing and he contrasts defensive investing or investing using analysis versus speculating. Like Buffett, Graham views investment as a buy and hold for the long term with active influence on the way the company is run. In his view, frequent trading is the road to losses. But at least you make capital gains possible for others.

Obviously, much of the specific information about companies, stock performance, taxes, US Savings Bonds, and such have to be adjusted for. We are more than fifty years later and much has changed. However, the core philosophy of the book is solid, readable, and profound.

The foreword provided in this reprint is by John C. Bogle who founded The Vanguard Group. He made a wonderful career and happy retirements for many based on the principles put forward in this classic text.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the true classics, June 19, 2006

By	Befragt (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a true classic, and most investors would be well-advised to start with this book as they seek to learn more about the process of making their money work for them. In particular, Graham's book is useful because it recognizes that the universe of potential investments is greater than just stocks - he covers warrants, bonds, etc.

Graham's main point is that investors look at the fundemantals that underly a potential investment to determine the probability of a satisfactory outcome. Hence, Graham does not focus on macroeconomic factors, but instead, he determines the "intrinsic value" for any investment, hopefully buying well below that value, a concept he calls the "margin of safety."

As some reviewers have noted, this book has been criticized by some thinkers as being out of date. In particular, most readers should understand that one of the theories that underlies Graham's philosophy, that a stock is worth the aggregate value of its expected dividends (See John Burr Williams' "Theory of Investment Value"), has been modified somewhat by "discounted cash flow" theories. This means that to some investors, p/e ratios and dividend payouts are de-emphasized somewhat. To me, this does not mean that Graham's theories lose validity, particularly as concerns the notions of intrinsic value and the margin of safety.

As far as I am concerned, Graham's book is most useful when viewed as a theory about how to invest. As such, it is a valuable guide, particularly when read in conjunction with Phil Fisher's book "Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits" and Marty Whitman and Marty Shubik's book "The Aggressive Conservative Investor." Another book that readers of the Intelligent Investor might like would be Dreman's "Contrarian Investing: the Next Generation."

A quick warning to prospective readers: at the outset, reading anything by Graham can be somewhat slow going. I received a copy of this book as a gift years ago, and could not slog through more than 1/2 of it. It was only years later, after learning more about investing and accounting, that I truly came to appreciate the wisdom contained in this book.

Readers who appreciate The Intelligent Investor might also want to try "Security Analysis," which develops the ideas in the Intelligent Investor in much greater detail, and also sets forth more criteria about how to analyze investments (the chapters on financial statements are particularly useful). I have reviewed that book (3rd edition) as well, if anyone is interested.

Although it takes some work to make it through this book, one point that readers should understand is Graham firmly believes that it takes work to invest wisely. He would never encourage investing on tips, momentum investing, etc. A reader would be well-served to apply himself or herself to investing research with the same diligence that reading this book requires, and I don't doubt they will be rewarded as a result.

93 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It may not be the BIBLE of Investing - But it certainly is the NEW TESTAMENT, March 9, 2007

By	Richard Stoyeck "StocksAtBottom.com" (Westport, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What are you waiting for, buy the book and rock your world. I am reminded of the old joke we use to tell in Wall Street when I was with Lehman Brothers back in the 1970's. It's the story about the guy who is given permission to remove as much gold as he can from Fort Knox but he only has a morning, and must work alone. He's given a truck and a wagon to haul the gold with. He gets in the truck and heads the wrong way. "Where are you going, you are going the wrong way, you only have a morning to work with, and the clock has started." His answer is classic, "I am going to get breakfast first."


The point is very simple. People are reading Wall Street Journals, getting MBA's, and watching the talking heads on television. I've got portfolio managers who would kill for an edge, and every one of them, all of them are missing the point. It's all there, all the knowledge, all the wisdom you need to become a MASTER in the financial markets. You simply have to know what to read, and you begin by reading THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR.


At Harvard we use to say they divided the building up into two lecture halls tonight. The door at the first hall has a sign that says LECTURE ON GOD, on it. The door of the second lecture hall has a sign that says GOD on it. Everybody wanted to go to the lecture. Listen up folks, this book THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR, it's the real thing. This is not Madison Avenue sitting down with a author that they pulled out of Hollywood, and said let's put some interesting witticisms into a book on investing, dress it up, market it smart, and make a couple of bucks.


This is a book by a man with an Einstein type IQ, whose natural abilities were in the financial arena, who has the uncanny skill sets to explain himself in beautiful prose that just about all the rest of us can understand. If you want to be in the stock market, and you haven't read Benjamin Graham, it's like being in a gunfight in the old west, and not having a gun. You got to do the basics, and very few people do.


Wasn't it Woody Allen who said, "80% of making it is just showing up?" If you want to be in the market, and outperform everybody else wanting the same thing, than you can't do the same things they do, or you will get the same results, and that means mediocrity. You are in the race for Alpha, the extraordinary return. To win the race, you need an EDGE. Now how many people do you think are doing the basics? The answer is about as close to zero as you can get.


Investors, just like people want instant gratification with a minimum of effort, energy, and pain, and that's not how smart, astute investing works. You need to read books like this one not once, but over and over again, until it becomes part of you, until emotionally its wisdom becomes imprinted in your brain. You then need to start implementing it. See what kinds of results you are getting, and then make the adjustments necessary to make its wisdom YOUR OWN.


In other words, you need to OWN THE KNOWLEDGTE THAT'S IN THIS BOOK. Can it be done? Yes, but not easily. Benjamin Graham spent a lifetime figuring this stuff out. He didn't hit the ski slopes at Sun Valley. He wasn't sitting by the pool at Bungalow 5, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He was grinding out the "Margin of Safety" concept, and testing it against the real world, did it work, and did it falter? Was it a 100 percent reliable.


I have heard Warren Buffett his most famous, but not only successful disciple tell the story of how the students in Graham's class room at Columbia would challenge the old man. Graham would used those challenges to make his thinking better, sharper, more real, and in so doing he became a better investor.


You want to know about Mr. Market, and why just about every investor ignores this theory, which is the equivalent of the Quantum Theory in Physics. You need to read the book. In Chapter 11, he teaches you how to value a business, his way. The teachers at Harvard, Wharton, Ross School, and others have nothing on Ben Graham. We are all students at his feet.


In my lifetime, I have worked with some of the smartest people on the planet. My direct mentor is the richest man on Wall Street, and I have known just about every major national and international investor worth his salt in the world in my generation. Every one of them could quote Benjamin Graham, meanwhile the want-to-bees, were out getting fitted for suits, after having lunch at the 21 Club.


Absorb some wisdom from someone who has been there. Read this book; learn about the "Circle of Competence", and the overwhelming importance of investor psychology. It is amazing that in this book several generations old, Ben is dealing with the same issues confronting us today, director independence, broker conflicts, frequent trading and the lack of performance it creates, management teams out of control, and dealing in a self-serving manner.


Each edition of this book is unique in its own way, with different world-class players commenting along side the text. I happen to like this edition because John Bogle (read his books also) is a man who I respect enormously who has impacted the investing world. The revised edition with Warren Buffett commenting is wonderful also. You simply can not go wrong touching anything that has been written by Benjamin Graham. Good luck.


Richard Stoyeck
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