Product Description

This classic book secured Benjamin Graham's status as a Wall street immortal. the carefully honed methods for finding undervalued stocks and bonds he described here have never been equaled, and have already outlived their author by more than 20 years. Even as Security Analysis has gone through five editions and nearly a million copes, you can learn time-tested investment secrets and strategies by going back to the source - THE ORIGINAL - and paying close attention to its wisdom. Written just five years after the crash, Security Analysis's message today is just as vivid, just as lucid, and just as vital as it was in 1934.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48605 in Books
• Published on: 1996-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 725 pages

Review
Read and reap? J.P. Morgan Co.'s private-banking unit, New York, compiles "Summer Must-Reads for Millionaires." The 10-book list includes the 1934 edition of "Security Analysis." The Wall Street Journal 20000726

Read and reap? J.P. Morgan Co.'s private-banking unit, New York, compiles "Summer Must-Reads for Millionaires." The 10-book list includes the 1934 edition of "Security Analysis." (The Wall Street Journal )

From the Author
Security Analysis is the bible of fundamental analysis. Originally published in 1934, the tome systematically lays bare the science of security analysis. Written with the assistance of cowriter David Dodd, Benjamin Graham's intellectual tour de force has yet to be equaled in the annals of investing. Written only a few years after the devastating stock market crash of 1929, Graham had one objective--to make the investment process as safe as possible using knowledge of key factors about the business.

Beginning with bonds and moving quickly to stocks, Graham and Dodd go over all of the angles. Articulating a comprehensive theory of fixed-value and common stock investment, they examine in detail the various factors that one should consider when valuing securities. Dividends, extraordinary items, depreciation, amortization, capital structure and balance sheet analysis are all described and defined in lurid detail. It is impossible to read Security Analysis and not come away with a deeper understanding of corporate finance and how it relates to investing.

On the downside, let's be frank--Security Analysis is not an easy book to read. However, it remains one of the key textbooks for communicating fundamental analysis to millions of MBAs, in spite of the fact that it first saw print 63 years ago. I personally believe that reading and understanding most of Security Analysis would make a great benchmark for determining whether or not you are ready to start investing your money in specific investments. Sure, Graham is very value-biased in his investment philosophy, but looking for growth without focusing on the price you are paying is the golden road to underperformance.

From the Back Cover
"My Advice? Go back to Graham and do your best to take it from there."­­Business Week

A classic. Those words can be applied without equivocation to the Security Analysis of 1934. This book secured Benjamin Graham's stature as a Wall Street immortal. The carefully honed methods for finding undervalued stocks and bonds he described here have never been equalled. These methods have already outlived their author by more than 20 years. But what of the original Security Analysis? In some ways, it too was immortal. Through five editions and nearly a million copies, it has been continuously in print for more than 60 years. With many additions and changes, the modern edition remains the investors' bible. But this original 1934 First Edition has its own unique charm and style­­the special purity, elegance, and character of Graham as a man of letters­­that distinguishes it across six decades and shows why this book launched an investing revolution. This authetic copy of the 1934 First Edition of Security Analysis gives you word for eloquent word the investing methods put forth by Benjamin Graham and his coauthor and follower, David Dodd, just five years after the infamous Stock Market Crash of '29. Its message today is just as vivid, just as lucid, and just as vital as it was in 1934. It's an investment in timeless wisdom and timeless value.

Customer Reviews

The one book every serious investor should read
At first glance, Security Analysis - one shy of 700 single spaced pages without a single picture other than a smiling Mr. Graham on the cover - appears not for the faint of heart. Inside, however, lies the single greatest book on investing ever written, which remains remarkably readable, insightful and timely nearly seven decades after its first edition. Graham, a successful investor in his own right, was also a highly effective and influential teacher (one of his students named Warren Buffett has done quite well), and his methods and language are refreshingly clear and (believe it or not) concise. The length of the book is due to the breadth of its content, not to any wordiness or unnecessary diversions.

Graham (and his collaborator Dodd) meticulously and methodically builds a framework for the analysis and decision-making necessary for truly good investment decisions. Step-by-step, they lay out a general approach and philosophy for investment (as quite distinct from mere speculation) followed by the systematic analysis of fixed income, convertible and equity securities (i.e., bonds, converts/preferreds, stocks); a detailed discussion of financial statements; and a description of certain underlying differences between the intrinsic value of a business and its fluctuating stock price. As a result, the reader emerges with a solid philosophy and approach for his or her own investments and the analytical tools to make actual buying and selling decisions.

This book is neither a get-rich-quick scheme nor an empty academic exercise. Graham does not set out to justify or theorize about the market. Instead, he sets out to counsel the student on the profitable investment in individual securities. Security Analysis contains dozens of case studies and lessons that are just as relevant today as in the post-1929 aftermath, including particularly misleading technical analyses, dangerous justifications for the valuations placed on hot new companies and the dilutive effects of stock options. As other reviewers have noted, Graham has been a towering figure in Finance, influencing Warren Buffett and countless other successful investors, and yet the lessons contained in this book are repeatedly ignored by far greater numbers of individuals and professional investors. The methodologies and rationale for justifying dot-com and telecom valuations in recent years, for example, are strikingly similar to the new stock issues Wall Street marketed (and people bought) just as eagerly in the late 1920's.

The book does show its age in some respects. While the principles underlying Security Analysis are completely sound today, there have been important changes in the market as well, such as the pervasive use of stock options as compensation, the unprecedented access to information (useful or otherwise) enabled by the Web, the heightened awareness around corporate governance issues (and the resulting influence of large institutional shareholders, such as pension funds) and the spectacular growth in mergers and acquisitions, which has at the very least added layers of accounting complexity. In addition, Graham relies perhaps too heavily on seeking out unpopular bargain issues based on asset value. In today's environment, and partly as a result of accounting limitations, companies are driven as much by knowledge intensity as by asset intensity. A strict Graham approach may preclude considering promising companies whose value lies primarily in intangibles not captured on the balance sheet, such as in the form of brands (Coca Cola), distribution process (Dell) or market position (Microsoft).

As a result, I recommend the following books as enhancements to the core principles articulated in Security Analysis:

* The Intelligent Investor - Written by Graham in the early 1970's with some assistance from his former student Buffett, he adds several decades of wisdom and experience, including greater discussion of technology companies, mutual funds and market cycles.

* The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America - A kind of Greatest Hits of Buffett's essays, primarily drawn from his annual Berkshire Hathaway letters to shareholders, this is an extremely useful, funny and brilliant collection spanning a wide range of corporate finance, investment and general business thought. His commentary on some of Graham's key concepts, such as Mr. Market and Margin of Safety, combined with his own current, real-life case studies and innovations make this a must-read.

* Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits - Philip Fisher was, according to Buffett, his second greatest influence after Graham, and this book fills in much of the qualitative analysis of businesses that the analytical Graham places relatively less emphasis on. Fisher is particularly keen on analyzing companies which rely heavily on R&D and new products to generate continuous growth.

Happy investing!

Not Just A Way to Gain a Historical Perspective
Although it is fun to read Graham & Dodd's First from the context of historical perspective, there is more to this volume than history. When I first learned that Warren Buffett keeps and peruses EACH edition of Graham & Dodd's "Security Analysis", this struck me as a sort of silly fanaticism. But anyone who takes the time to read more than one edition of "Security Analysis" will understand why Buffett probably keeps all four. For better or worse, each edition has some gem which may not be found in the other volumes. In the first, for instance, there is a section on rights offering analysis which can't be found in the 3rd and 4th editions (I've actually never been able to get my hands on a second edition, so I don't know whether the equation he offers in in the 2nd or not).

I'm not sure if this would be the first "Security Analysis" volume I'd try to tackle (the 3rd is probably the best...Graham participated less actively in the 4th), but if you are comfortable enough with security analysis terminology to know what is antiquated and what is not in this 1934 text, you will not be sorry you made the effort to buy and read it.

Best Ever Written
This is book has been updated many times (through the fifth edition). If you have read the latest edition, and believe you have read anything like the original, go back and read this one. Once you have read 'Old Ben', you will find other editions very disappointing. That could be why Warren Buffet suggested going back to the original if you want to know what value investing is all about.

Current investment practice, and later editions of this book concentrate on the one thing that Graham said was, if not impossible, very non-productive - estimating future earnings. This book concentrates on understanding proven value. Where one spends most of its time on the income statement, this book spends most of its time on the balance sheet. There is a world of difference, and the difference leads to a much different portfolio, and future.

There is, as the author points out repeatedly, a difference between investment and speculation. There is also a difference between helpful discussion and meaningful analysis. The original edition is full of meaning, written by a practitioner who also could teach. Later editions (especially the fifth) make me wonder how much of the master's works the new authors read before starting. It also makes me question how much influence Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette and Autanet exercised in return for their grant to finance the book.

If you want a great book on investing read the original. It will give you much more insight and at least twice as much 'food for thought'.