The Most Important Thing - Howard Marks

[onyx1]

The Most Important Thing:  Uncommon Sense For The Thoughtful Investor

Forty five years of value investing experience distilled into 180 pages.  I now understand why Buffett reads Howards Marks letters as soon as they are published.  This book is short, sweet, and dripping in wisdom.  It will stand the test of time.  I plan to re-read it every year.

[Packer16]

This probably one of the best books I have read on how to outperform the market and others.  His focus is being different and correct.  He also stress the importance of value and provides some tips on how to deal with market psychology and what creates underpriced assets. 

Packer

[Liberty]

I'm a couple chapters in and I quite like it so far. Very concise and insightful.

(yes, I read 3-4 books in parallel -- also reading Free Capital, Steve Jobs, Money Masters of Our Time, and this)

[Ben Graham]

This probably one of the best books I have read on how to outperform the market and others.  His focus is being different and correct.  He also stress the importance of value and provides some tips on how to deal with market psychology and what creates underpriced assets. 

Packer

Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. Now for the first time, all readers can benefit from Marks's wisdom, concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur and seasoned investor.

Informed by a lifetime of experience and study, The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways.

Marks expounds on such concepts as "second-level thinking," the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Frankly and honestly assessing his own decisions--and occasional missteps--he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking, risk assessment, and investment strategy. Encouraging investors to be "contrarian," Marks wisely judges market cycles and achieves returns through aggressive yet measured action. Which element is the most essential? Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects, and each of Marks's subjects proves to be the most important thing.

"This is that rarity, a useful book."--Warren Buffett

[Liberty]

Ben, did you just cut & paste this page?

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-15368-3/the-most-important-thing

[Rabbitisrich]

Liberty, no. Ben Graham wrote that page.

I like the book but it's more useful to a new investor. An experienced investor in need of a refresher would probably benefit from The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.

[Liberty]

He works for Columbia University Press? i had no idea.