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Quote by Benjamin Graham

“It is a misfortune of the times that all of us must needs be amateur economists-including, and perhaps especially, the professionals.”

Quote by Benjamin Graham

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Benjamin Graham
Benjamin Graham

Benjamin Graham, born on May 9, 1894, in London, England, was a renowned investor and securities analyst. He had a profound impact on the investment field and was hailed as the 'Father of Modern Investing'. Graham's investment philosophy emphasizes value investing, advocating for investors to focus on the fundamental aspects of companies rather than market sentiment. His book, 'The Intelligent Investor', has had a significant influence on generations of investors. more

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“Though business conditions may change, corporations and securities may change, and financial institutions and regulations may change, human nature remains the same. Thus the important and difficult part of sound investment, which hinges upon the investor's own temperament and attitude, is not much affected by the passing years.”

YearsHumansMayImportantDifficultSoundAttitudeConditionsSecurityHuman NatureInstitutionsRemainsInvestmentFinancialPassingPassingsCorporationsAffectedInvestorsRegulationTemperamentHingesFinancial Institutions
Book:The Intelligent Investor: A Book of Practical Counsel
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“The history of the past fifty years, and longer, indicates that a diversified holding of representative common stocks will prove more profitable over a stretch of years than a bond portfolio, with one important provisio that the shares must be purchased at reasonable market levels, that is, levels that are reasonable in the light of fairly well-defined standards derived from past experience.”

YearsWellsImportantLightPastLevelsCommonShareProveStandardsDefinedReasonableFiftyRepresentativesProfitablePortfoliosPast Experiences
Book:The Intelligent Investor: A Book of Practical Counsel
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“Nothing in finance is more fatuous and harmful, in our opinion, than the firmly established attitude of common stock investors regarding questions of corporate management. That attitude is summed up in the phrase: "If you don't like the management, sell your stock." ... The public owners seem to have abdicated all claim to control over the paid superintendents of their property.”

IfsSeemsCommonAttitudeOpinionClaimsPaidManagementSellsPropertyFinanceCorporatePhrasesOwnersInvestorsSuperintendents
Author:Benjamin Graham
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“The investor is neither smart not richer when he buys in an advancing market and the market continues to rise. That is true even when he cashes in a goodly profit, unless either (a) he is definitely through with buying stocks an unlikely story or (b) he is determined to reinvest only at considerably lower levels. In a continuous program no market profit is fully realized until the later reinvestment has actually taken place, and the true measure of the trading profit is the difference between the previous selling level and the new buying level.”

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Author:Benjamin Graham
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“In most cases the favorable price performance will be accompanied by a well-defined improvement in the average earnings, in the dividend, and in the balance-sheet position. Thus in the long run the market test and the ordinary business test of a successful equity commitment tend to be largely identical.”

WellsLongRunningCasesSuccessfulPositionBalanceOrdinaryCommitmentTestsPerformancesAverageImprovementDefinedLong RunsEarningSheetsEquityIdenticalDividendsBalance Sheets
Book:The Intelligent Investor: A Book of Practical Counsel
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“A price decline is of no real importance to the bona fide investor unless it is either very substantial say, more than a third from cost or unless it reflects a known deterioration of consequence in the company's position. In a well-defined bear market many sound common stocks sell temporarily at extraordinary low prices. It is possible that the investor may then have a paper loss of fully 50 per cent on some of his holdings, without any convincing indication that the underlying values have been permanently affected.”

WellsMayHas BeensRealValuesSoundLossCommonCompanyKnownPositionBearsCostPaperLowsConsequenceThirdsImportanceSellsExtraordinaryDefinedAffectedInvestorsDeclineCentsConvincingIndicationDeterioration
Author:Benjamin Graham
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