Intelligent Investor Definitive Investing Essentials Reviews Summary

Investment Principles and Strategies

Pros:

• "This book gives you the tools to tune out the noise and make good investments based on sound principles."
• "Putting the fame aside, this book is among the best you will find if you hope to understand how to detach the emotion of the market from individual stock analysis."
• "The thing I like about this book is that all the examples have been simplified to laymen's terms."
• "The Intelligent Investor provides a similar emphasis on buying assets at a discount to their intrinsic value."
• "A timeless classic from a master whose timeless wisdom has been proven through the greatest economic cycles of the early to late 20th century."
• "The book provides many specific examples and explanations of Graham's investment principles, including his famous 'Mr. Market' analogy."
• "The Intelligent Investor doesn't just focus on stock selection; it also provides invaluable guidance on risk management, diversification, and avoiding common pitfalls."

Cons:

• "The paper and printing quality are so poor. The binding is so bad and cheap that the pages literally start coming off as soon as you turn or even touch them."
• "This is a book about the basics of the stock market, only grammatically advanced."
• "History is relevant sometimes but this book, for the most part, will not help you be a better investor."
• "The book is too outdated for all of the technological advancement the market has made in the last 10 years."
• "A lot of information in this book is old and outdated."
• "Much of the trading that is going on now, especially on the retail side, is speculative in nature so a bunch of this book isn't so relevant."
• "The book is purely about fundamental analysis and gives no attention to macroeconomic considerations."

Quality and Accessibility

Pros:

• "The Kindle Version has interactive graphics and can be enlarged and manipulated on a touch screen."
• "Spiral bound edges flatten book bindings to simplify the study of complex technical content implying multiple readings."
• "Wonderful, down-to-earth, thought provoking content."

Cons:

• "Like many other reviews, the book was clearly used. It came really dirty with black marks on the pages and coming apart along the spine."
• "The specific historical examples may be dated, but the principle concept is the same now as then."
• "The commentary is a little outdated, even as a revision, however the points made apply to all examples of over exuberance."
• "But for a classic that is meant to be read, re-read, thumbed, annotated, lugged around, the manufacturing quality of this edition is abysmal."
• "The book dimensions exactly match a 5 x 8 index card, resulting in way less than a 10-point font and difficult review of charts and tables."
• "Book binder and cover arrived in poor condition. Condition looks like it has been read previously and packaged to be mailed."
• "Also keep in mind that it can be really annoying to read this book today because of all the necessary footnotes."

Relevance and Application

Pros:

• "It taught me more in one book than I ever learned over a decade of studying the market."
• "Investments should only be undertaken with a quantifiable margin of safety."
• "The strategies thought in this book should be the foundation for every novice investor that wants to go at it alone."
• "Graham's insights into value investing, fundamental analysis, and risk management remain relevant and valuable today."
• "The concepts and insights offered in the core text and the very helpful commentary were again confirmed as solid and effective during the Great Recession."
• "The fundamentals, and more importantly the examples cited of lessons learned from investing still ring true today."
• "Applying the principles from this book has increased my net worth and investing abilities beyond what I could possibly imagine."

Cons:

• "I’m not a native English speaker and that could’ve been a hindrance for me to understand this book fully."
• "Today's market is much more volatile than it was before, especially at this moment in time."
• "Not sure reading this book alone will give you the key to become the next Warren Buffett."
• "There is a lot of financial jargon that make it hard to read."
• "This book is NOT written by Benjamin Graham as stated on the cover."
• "It's not an easy read. But, if you are determined to learn, you will get through it."
• "The book gives a lot of great advice on valuing investments. But in a situation like today, when we have the Everything Bubble, the advice can seem a little quaint."