Some bedtime reading: Graham and Dodd's "Security Analysis"

I am in the process of re-reading David Dodd and Benjamin Graham's 1934 bible on investing.

Security Analysis.

It deserves a re-read after a life changing event like a stroke and from what I have read so far it kind of reinforces the conclusions I came to before heading down its 725 pages.

This 725 page giant of a book was written at a time where the global economy was in a depression brought on by the over exuberant roaring 20s and the subsequent 1929 stockmarket crash.

This book was initially looked at when were going through what they call, 'The Great Recession' in 2008 - you fill in your year for the finish.

It has had several updates since its original edition and is often hard to come by in your local bookstore. A sixth edition was out in 2008, when I originally wrote this. I wanted to read the original book to get a feeling for the markets and general investment outlook of the time. Its relation to today's market conditions is still important to me.

From the Amazon preview of the first edition of Security Analysis:


The original words of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd--put to paper not long after the disastrous Stock Market Crash of 1929--still have the mesmerizing qualities of rigorous honesty and diligent scrutiny, the same riveting power of disciplined thought and determined logic that gave the work its first distinction and began its illustrious career.

In their preface to this book, Graham and Dodd write that they hope their work "will stand the test of the ever enigmatic future." There is no doubt that it has.


Now I have other books on my reading list but I want to tackle this one first, principally because it was the text that Warren Buffett based much of his investing style on and as my regular readers know I am a Warren Buffett nut.

I have already read Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor but I felt I needed a more detailed analysis of his investment style and his and Dodd's Security Analysis tome fits that bill to a tee.

Many stockbrokers in the past have used Security Analysis to go back to in times of doubt, and given current market turmoil investors might be wise to start reading.

It is clear the majority of stockbrokers in the United States and in other global markets haven't even turned a page of this essential investment tool and I know that is more than the case in New Zealand stockbroker circles.

My local ASB Securities broker said what? when I asked him during a related conversation if he had even heard of the book! Even The Intelligent Investor was another language to him.

You can get a physical copy of the book from the Share Investor Bookstore or download it free here.



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Book Review: Popes and Bankers

Popes and Bankers: A cultural History of Credit & Debt, From Aristotle to AIG by Jack Cashill, sounds like the most mind-numbingly boring title for a book that you ever heard of and you would presume that the content would fit the title and for a great number of chapters it does as you read it, for me anyway.

Having said that what was mind numbing for 25 chapters suddenly comes into its own in chapter 26 when Cashill writes about the "Greed Decade" of the 1980s (my vintage) and what I previously thought was boring and mind-numbing takes on a more poignant meaning and I am then riveted.

You know where Cashill is taking you - on a historical financial journey - when you discover in chapter two that he begins quoting passages from the bible that will have relevance to the present day financial crises but to me the historical part only piques my interest in retrospect -I will have to read the previous 25 chapters again.

The Jewish factor in the history of banking, finance and associated subjects is sometimes hard to read. It doesn't place them in a good historical or indeed present day context. I came off thinking, were/are they really that bad or were and are they just more entrepreneurial than every other culture or race and those outside the "Jewish Circle" and "outsiders" are jealous because they were not as hard working or intelligent enough to do the same.

The chapter that held the most interest for me is Chapter 27, "The Age of Innocence". In it Cashill describes the genesis of the present day financial collapse and President Bill Clinton's central hand in it - something I was already aware of and have been for years.

Clinton forced banks and then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lend money to individuals (Americas race based form of lending was extended even further than it was in the 1970s) who were poor credit risks to buy houses in the 1990s and Alan Greenspan (another evil Jew?) provided the cheap interest rates through the Federal Reserve that led to the frenzy of house buying that then led to the bubble and you know the rest.

You don't read a lot about the Democrats, Bill Clinton and their historical central role in the 2008 financial collapse but Cashill gives you the facts and lets the reader join the dots.

Popes and Bankers is a book of its time and gives the history that puts today's financial troubles - and every other crash before it - in context and with Cashill's perspective on how that fits.

If you can get past the mundane first part of the book and get to the meat at the end the first part is going to make a lot more sense and you will want to read it again.


I received this book gratis from Stephanie Marshall at MNS Publicity and wish to thank her and her company.


From Amazon

Popes and Bankers: A Cultural History of Credit and Debt, from Aristotle to AIG by Jack Cashill Buy new: $13.58 / Used from: $0.01 Usually ships in 24 hours

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