If you don’t have this book in your library, then you should not even be contemplating an investment in shares directly, or even indirectly, though a mutual fund.
It is surely not a co-incidence, as Warren Buffett graphically illustrates in his Appendix to this book, that some of the world’s most successful investors learned at the feet of Benjamin Graham and have applied his principles with great success.
This book, like all of Graham’s writings, is easy enough to understand for even lay investors. Graham sets the scene early in the book by explaining the difference between intelligent investing and mere speculation. Using the history of stock market booms and crashes and illustrating them with real life examples, Graham explains how an intelligent investor can stay ahead of the market.
Graham sets out investment principles for both the defensive investor and one who is more enterprising and shows how investor can identify under priced stocks.
As Warren Buffett has said, the two most important chapters in the book are Chapter 8, The Investor and Market Fluctuations, where Graham develops his concept of Mr Market, and Chapter 20, Margin of Safety where he preaches the wisdom of leaving enough room to cover mistakes in judgment of a share’s intrinsic value.
A must buy book, worth every penny, especially during turbulent times.
c Share Investor 2007