Value Investing Today (1998, 2nd ed.) by Charles H. Brandes
This book provides a decent introduction to value investing, which is the strategy of buying stocks at discounts to the intrinsic values of their underlying companies. The first part of the book is the strongest section, giving a compelling explanation for why value investing makes sense and citing some historical data that support aspects of the strategy. Subsequent parts of the book deal with how to find stocks at attractive valuations and manage a portfolio, although I must admit that I did not really learn anything that I could use to improve my own approach to valuation. The book also has a large part on investing in foreign stocks, which I found moderately informative but somewhat secondary to the main theme. Overall, this book is about average when compared with everything else I have read about value investing.
Note: I read this book in September 2012.
DGM,
ReplyDeleteThanks for separating the winners and the losers when it comes to books on investing.
I don't know how you have the time to read all of these books. I find it hard just to keep up with a 50-hour workweek, spending time at the gym, keeping tabs on the portfolio and the individual companies in it, researching new investment opportunities and blogging. It's definitely challenging!
The only books I've really read this year are Matt's (which was superb) and most of "The Intelligent Investor (which was also superb).
Best wishes!
Dividend Mantra: Thanks, I'm glad my book reviews are helpful. As for how I have the time to read all these books: Outside of my day job and investing (which is my main "hobby") I don't have many other interests or constraints on my time, so I tend to read a lot.
DeleteThus far this year I've read a total of 43 books; 23 were related to investing and the other 20 were novels (a mix of mystery, thriller, and sci-fi). I make pretty good use of my local public library.
At some point my reading of investing books will slow down -- it's already getting difficult to find books that seem worthwhile to read and have the potential to inform my investing strategy.