Security Analysis - Hardcover

Sidney Cottle is President of FRS Associates, which provides specialized research, consulting, proprietary multiclient studies and seminars to institutional investors on the investment decision-making process and investment management. Dr. Cottle was formerly Director of Finance and Financial Institutional Research at Stanford Research Institute and a member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He is coauthor with Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd of the Fourth Edition of Security Analysis. He is Project Director of Pension Asset Management: The Corporate Decision, prepared for the Financial Executive Research Foundation, and also coauthor of other books on investments. He is the author of articles in the Financial Analysts Journal and other professional financial journals and twice recipient of the Graham and Dodd Award for financial writing.

Roger F. Murray is S. Sloan Colt Professor Emeritus of Banking and Finance, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, where he was successor in the classroom to Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd, introducing more than 2,000 students to the concepts of security analysis, as well as business finance, capital markets, and portfolio management. He took a six-year hiatus from teaching to serve as Finance Committee Chairman and trustee of the College Retirement Equities Fund. A past President of the American Finance Association who is still active in investment management, he currently serves as adviser, director, or trustee of investment and business organizations.

Frank E. Block was a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board from 1979 to 1985. Previously he had spent 30 years in investment research activities in bank trust departments and on Wall Street. He has been President of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (1972-1973) and the Financial Analysts Federation (1969-1970). He has been a frequent writer and speaker on investment subjects, and was an Associate Editor of the Financial Analysts Journal (1966-1979).

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.