Work
Security Analysis
Benjamin Graham · Passages from the same work, in order.
Voting Machine and Weighing Machine
The stock market is a voting machine rather than a weighing machine. It responds to factual data not directly but only as they affect the decisions…
Prices reflect human reactions, not precise mechanical valuations.
Investing · Cognition · Human nature · Modern investor letters
Investment vs. Speculation
An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and a satisfactory return. Operations not meeting these…
Investment requires thorough analysis, safety of principal, and a satisfactory return; otherwise it is speculation.
Investing · Decision · Philosophy · Modern investor letters
Intrinsic Value Needs Only Approximation
The essential point is that security analysis does not seek to determine exactly what is the intrinsic value of a given security.
Security analysis seeks an adequate approximation of value, not an exact number.
Investing · Cognition · Decision · Modern investor letters
The Limits of Market Timing
It is our view that stock-market timing cannot be done, with general success, unless the time to buy is related to an attractive price level, as…
Market timing only works when tied to analytically attractive prices, not to market signals alone.
Investing · Decision · Cognition · Modern investor letters
Withstanding Adversity
The rule that a sound investment must be able to withstand adversity seems self-evident enough to be termed a truism.
A sound investment must be able to survive adversity, not just prosper in good times.
Investing · Character · Decision · Modern investor letters