"Security Analysis: Sixth Edition" is a must-read for the serious investor. Essential to anyone wanting to be a value investor, and to learn the method of investing taught to the author's number one pupil: Warren E. Buffett.
I purchased my copy of "Security Analysis: Sixth Edition on November 13, 2009 and completed it [word-for-word, cover-to-cover] exactly 6 months later. This book /tome is THE book on value investing, and all its details, contingencies, and considerations. Written by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd originally in 1934, then revised by them again in 1940 and 1951, the Sixth Edition contains the text of the 1940 edition in a 764-page book and also parts of the 1940 edition on a CD-ROM, which is included with the book. The book is a textbook for the professional and also for the everyday average but serious investor, whom I consider myself one. Security Analysis is extremely well-written, and any serious reader and/or student of the English language who is honest would find himself agreeing with that obvious fact.
It is remarkable that a book written in 1934 on investing, which has changed so much as regards instruments and methods over the years, would still be considered relevant to today and to the future, but "Security Analysis" is just such a book. It is updated with commentary by several successful investors of today, but the original text remains intact as written in 1940 [in this Sixth Edition and and on the CD]. The faithful reader of this book will find himself following the lines of thought of Benjamin Graham, and therefore perhaps thinking like Graham long after his first reading of this investing Classic. Therein lies its value: Graham was a very successful investor, earning very high returns [very high percentages] over the years, much like his most famous student at Columbia University, Warren Buffett, has done over a lifetime. I found that for me the best paart of Security Analysis was Part VII: Discrepancies Betweeen Price and Value". In short and though this may be a slight oversimplification, when the price of the stock is much less than its [intrinsic] value, a "margin of safety" exists and the stock is a good one to buy at that time. Graham doesn't waste words, even in 750 pages, and there is much detail to learn about the complexities and many possible contingencies of investing, most of which Graham has thoroughly covered, even by today's standards [2010].
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