Security Analysis

In this summary you will learn

• What security analysis is and how it differs from market analysis
• The differences between fixed value securities, senior securities with variable value and common stocks
• How to apply the guidelines of security analysis to each of these three types of security

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Why you should read Security Analysis

A book that has been continuously in print for nearly 70 years obviously has timeless relevance. The principles of value investing, spelled out for the first time in Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd, have made fortunes for investors since it was first published in 1934. For example, Warren Buffett calls this book his Bible. Much has changed on Wall Street since the 1930s, but the concept of buying undervalued companies has not. In addition to its lucid explanation of investment basics, the book is a fascinating picture of a time when the lessons of the Great Depression were still being absorbed. The Securities Act of 1933 had just changed the rules of financial disclosure, and most public companies were manufacturers, mines, railroads or utilities - not the makeup of today’s blue-chip portfolio. getAbstract.com recommends this book to serious investors who want to cut through modern Wall Street jargon, and to students of financial history.

About the Authors

Benjamin Graham is considered the father of modern security analysis. As the founder of the value school of investing, Graham influenced Warren Buffett, Mario Gabelli, John Neff, Michael Price and John Bogle. David L. Dodd was a follower of Graham’s theories and a fellow teacher at Columbia, where he was an assistant professor of finance.