The Definitive Book on Value Investing
The Intelligent Investor is the founding text of value investing: Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's professor at Columbia, separates the investor from the speculator and argues for buying businesses below their intrinsic value with a margin of safety.
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Considered the bible of value investing, this book by Benjamin Graham defines the principles that have guided Warren Buffett and generations of investors. Graham explains how to distinguish investing from speculation, how to analyze the margin of safety, and how to keep a clear head when markets panic. Originally published in 1949, it remains the essential reference for anyone who wants to invest wisely over the long term.
The Intelligent Investor is the founding text of value investing: Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's professor at Columbia, separates the investor from the speculator and argues for buying businesses below their intrinsic value with a margin of safety. The book defines two profiles, the defensive investor (who wants simplicity and protection) and the enterprising one (willing to do more analysis), and gives each a different strategy. Its most famous contribution is the allegory of "Mr. Market", a manic-depressive partner who quotes you a price every day: the point is not to follow his mood but to exploit his excesses. Graham also warns about inflation, leverage and the value of a proven record over growth promises. It is not light reading: there are tables, ratios and accounting examples that demand attention. Yet its philosophy —discipline, patience and temperament over talent— still holds more than seventy years later, and explains much of the success of the investors who have applied it.
For readers with some background who want the fundamentals of value investing; absolute beginners may start with a more accessible title first.
FactPublished in 1949; Warren Buffett has called it "by far the best book on investing ever written".
