Entity Dossier
Person

Benjamin Graham

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Strategic PatternWar and Crisis as Market Entry WindowStrategic PatternVertical Supply Chain LockdownCompetitive AdvantageRisk Reallocation as Competitive MoatSignature MoveShadow Operatives Beyond Auditor ReachSignature MoveSilence and Eye Contact as Persuasion WeaponsCornerstone MoveConsolidate Commodity Then Dictate PriceCapital StrategyCorporate Structure as Control WeaponSignature MoveNever Relinquish Voting ControlCornerstone MoveAbsorb the Risk Others Won't TouchIdentity & CultureCEO as Performance ActorSignature MoveDual-Class Shares to Sell Without SurrenderingSignature MoveStiritz: Poker-Player Odds on Back-of-Envelope LBOsOperating PrincipleBlank Calendar as Competitive EdgeCornerstone MoveOne-Page Analysis Then PounceSignature MoveMalone: Scale as Virtuous Cycle, Tax as ObsessionCornerstone MoveAnarchic Decentralization, Dictatorial Capital ControlRisk DoctrineInstitutional Imperative as CEO KryptoniteDecision FrameworkHurdle Rate as Supreme FilterSignature MoveSingleton: Phone Booth Tender at All-Time-Low MultiplesCornerstone MoveSuction Hose Buybacks at Maximum PessimismCornerstone MoveCash Flow as True North, Not Reported EarningsSignature MoveAnders: Sell Your Favorite Division Without BlinkingIdentity & CultureEngineers Over MBAs at the HelmCompetitive AdvantageConcentrated Bets Over Diversified DribblesSignature MoveMurphy: Leave Something on the Table Then Lever UpCapital StrategyTax Counsel Before Every TransactionOperating PrinciplePer-Share Value Not Longest TrainSignature MoveBuffett: Float Flywheel from Insurance to EmpireStrategic PatternGreedy When Others Are FearfulStrategic PatternGrowth Companies in DisguiseDecision FrameworkHistory Over Accounting as FoundationCapital StrategyLearn-Earn-Return Lifecycle of CapitalCornerstone MoveCompounding Requires Never Spending the CapitalRisk DoctrinePanic-Proof Through Private ValuationDecision FrameworkCheap Stocks Deserve Their Price Until Proven OtherwiseSignature MoveShelby Jr: Small-Cap Contrarian After Bear MarketsCornerstone MoveCrisis Creates Opportunity: Buy When Blood RunsSignature MoveShelby Cullom Davis: Dowager's Living Room PortfolioCornerstone MoveOwn the Money Business, Never the FactoryCornerstone MoveDavis Double Play: Earnings Growth Plus Multiple ExpansionRisk DoctrineEmerging Market Enthusiasm as Charitable DonationSignature MoveDavis Sr: Margin as Focus Fuel Not Just LeverageSignature MoveDavis Sr: Silver Bullet Competitor QuestionSignature MoveProfessional Distance From SpeculationOperating PrincipleChildlike Openness in Complex DomainsSignature MovePracticed Ignorance in Complex FieldsOperating PrincipleResist the 'Expert' TrapCornerstone MoveAbsolute Price DisciplineDecision FrameworkLimits Over Timing for InvestorsOperating PrincipleTime Value of Invested Cash ObsessionSignature MoveOwner Mindset Over Employee ThinkingCapital StrategyCash Parking During Opportunity DroughtSignature MoveGlobal Ground-Truth InvestigationCornerstone MoveArbitrage and Workout SituationsSignature MoveContrarian Loneliness as EdgeRisk DoctrineMargin of Safety as Liquidation FloorSignature MoveBalance Sheet Forensics Over EarningsSignature MoveDouble-and-Sell-Half DisciplineCornerstone MoveNet-Net Working Capital AcquisitionStrategic PatternTroubled Economies as Value Hunting GroundsDecision FrameworkBusiness Understanding Before InvestmentRisk DoctrineConcentration Over Diversification LogicDecision FrameworkDiscounted Cash Flow SkepticismStrategic PatternQuantitative Screening Before QualitativeOperating PrincipleStock Price Monitoring DisciplineCapital StrategyFee Structure as Values ExpressionSignature MoveTwo-Year Minimum Hold RuleRisk DoctrineManagement Personal Stress AssessmentSignature MoveInformation Sequencing DisciplineDecision FrameworkBridge as Investment TrainingIdentity & CultureInner Scorecard Over Outer RecognitionDecision FrameworkBehavioral Circuit BreakersSignature MoveNetwork Building Through Giving FirstSignature MoveHero Modeling as Learning MethodSignature MoveEnvironmental Design Over WillpowerOperating PrincipleGeographic Arbitrage for Mental ClarityStrategic PatternEcosystem Win-Win Analysis

Primary Evidence

". the function of the margin of safety is, in essence, that of rendering unnecessary an accurate estimate of the future.11 —Benjamin Graham"

Source:The Dhandho Investor

"Books and book chapters Adams, Jr, Russell B., The Boston Money Tree (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977). Allen, Frederick Lewis, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s (Harper & Row, 1931). Allen, Frederick Lewis, The Great Pierpont Morgan (Harper & Brothers, 1949). Allen, Trevor, Ivar Kreuger, Match King, Croesus and Crook (John Long, Ltd, 1932). Anderson, Ingvar, A History of Sweden (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1955). Ångström, Lars-Jonas, Därför Mördades Ivar Kreuger (Sellin & Blomquist, 1990). Ångström, Lars-Jonas, Översättning (unpublished manuscript). Berle, Adolf A., Jr & Gardiner C. Means, The Modern Corporation and Private Property (Macmillan, 1932). Bernstein, Peter L., Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street (John Wiley, 1992). Bjerre, Poul Carl, Kreuger (Natur och Kultur, 1932). Brooks, John, Once in Golconda: A True Drama of Wall Street 1920-1938, at 82 (John Wiley, 1969). Burk, Kathleen, “The House of Morgan in Financial Diplomacy - 1920-1930,” in B. J. McKercher, ed., The Struggle for Supremacy: Anglo-American Relations in the 1920s (Macmillan, 1987). Chernow, Ron, The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance (Simon & Schuster, 1990). Churchill, Allen, The Incredible Ivar Kreuger (Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1957). Deeson, A. F. L., Great Swindlers: A Fascinating Collection of Some of the World’s Most Incredible Frauds, at 120 (Drake Publishers, 1972). Drachenfels, Kurt, The Real Ivar Kreuger (United Press, 1933). Edwards, George W., The Evolution of Finance Capitalism (Longmans, Green and Co., 1938). Eichengreen, Barry, Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression 1919-1939 (Oxford University Press, 1992). Galbraith, John Kenneth, The Great Crash 1929 (Houghton Mifflin, 1954). Geisst, Charles R., Wall Street: A History (Oxford University Press, 1997). Georg, Manfred, The Case of Ivar Kreuger (Jonathan Cape, 1933). Glete, Jan, Kreugerkoncerne och Boliden (LiberFörlag, 1975). Glete, Jan, Kreugerkoncernen och Krisen På Svensk Aktiemarknad (Almqvist & Wiksell, 1981). Graham, Benjamin and David L. Dodd, Security Analysis (Whittlesey House, 1934). Hassbring, Lars, The International Development of the Swedish Match Company, 1917-1924 (LiberFörlag, 1979). Keynes, John Maynard, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (Harcourt, Brace & Howe, 1920). Kindleberger, Charles P., Manias, Panics and Crashes (John Wiley, 1978). Kreuger, Torsten, The Truth About Ivar Kreuger (Seewald, 1968). Lefèvre, Edwin, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (George H. Doran and Company, 1923). Lindgren, Håkan, Corporate Growth: The Swedish Match Industry in Its Global Setting (LiberFörlag, 1979). Loewe, Walter, Arne Jansson, and Carl Magnus Rosell, From Swedish Matches to Swedish Match: Sweden’s Match Industry 1836-1996 (Wahlström & Widstrand, 1997). Mackay, Charles, Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (Harriman House, 2003). Marcosson, Isaac Frederick, Turbulent Years (Books for Libraries Press, 1938). Markham, Jerry W., A Financial History of the United States (M. E. Sharpe, 2002). Mitchell, Lawrence E., The Speculation Economy: How Finance Triumphed Over Industry (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2007). Moberg, Vilhelm, A History of the Swedish People: From Renaissance to Revolution (Dorset Press, 1971). Modig, Hans, Swedish Match Interests in British India During the Interwar Years (LiberFörlag, 1979). Partnoy, Frank, Infectious Greed: How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets (Profile, 2003). Rand, Ayn, Night of January 16th (Plume, 1971). Ripley, William Z., Main Street and Wall Street (Little Brown & Co., 1927). Scott, Franklin D., Sweden: The Nation’s History (Southern Illinois University Press, 1988). Seligman, Joel, The Transformation of Wall Street: A History of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Modern Corporate Finance (Houghton Mifflin, 1982). Shaplen, Robert, Kreuger: Genius and Swindler (Alfred A. Knopf, 1960). Soloveychik, George, The Financier: The Life of Ivar Kreuger (Peter Davies, 1933). Sparling, Earl, Kreuger’s Billion Dollar Bubble (Greenberg, 1932). Stolpe, Sven, Ivar Kreuger Mördad? (Médans, 1955). Stoneman, William H., The Life and Death of Ivar Kreuger (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1932). Strouse, Jean, Morgan: American Financier (Random House, 1999). Thunholm, Lars-Erik, trans. George Thiel, Ivar Kreuger: The Match King (T. Fischer & Co., 1995). Train, John, Famous Financial Fiascos (Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1985). Wasik, John F., The Merchant of Power: Sam Insull, Thomas Edison, and the Creation of the Modern Metropolis (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Wikander, Ulla, Kreuger’s Match Monopolies, 1925-1930: Case Studies in Market Control Through Public Monopolies (LiberFörlag, 1979). Wilkins, Mira, The History of Foreign Investment in the United States, 1914-1945 (Harvard University Press, 2004). Zuckoff, Mitchell, Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend (Random House, 2005)."

Source:The Match King

"Two Interesting Patterns For those interested in a deeper dive into Buffett’s stock market investing, two other patterns are worthy of notice. The first is a deep-rooted contrarianism. Buffett has frequently cited Benjamin Graham’s “Mr. Market” analogy, in which “an obliging fellow named ‘Mr. Market’ shows up every day to either buy from you or sell to you . . . the more manic-depressive this chap is, the greater the opportunities available to the investor.”a Buffett systematically buys when Graham’s Mr. Market is feeling most blue. The majority of Berkshire’s major public market investments originated in some sort of industry or company crisis that obscured the value of a strong underlying business. The following table demonstrates this pattern. The second pattern is timing investments to coincide with significant management or strategy changes. Buffett uses the analogy of a pro-am golf event to describe these investment opportunities, which arise when a company with an excellent “franchise-type” business invests in other businesses with lower returns: “Even if all of the amateurs are hopeless duffers, the team’s best-ball score will be respectable because of the dominating skills of the professional.”b When, however, Buffett sees that a new management team is removing the amateurs from the foursome and returning focus to the company’s core businesses, he pays close attention, as the preceding table demonstrates. a. Berkshire Hathaway annual reports, 1977–2011. b. Berkshire Hathaway annual reports, 1989."

Source:The Outsiders_ Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

"You are right not because others agree with you, but because your facts and reasoning are sound. —Benjamin Graham What makes him a leader is precisely that he is able to think things through for himself. —William Deresiewicz, lecture to West Point plebe class, October 2009"

Source:The Outsiders_ Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

"Intelligent Investor, a sequel to his famous Securities Analysis, Benjamin Graham had written: "[To] enjoy a reasonable chance of continued better-than-average results, the investor must follow policies which are (1) inherently sound and promising, and (2) are not popular on Wall Street.""

Source:The Davis Dynasty

"Benjamin Graham, another of his mentors, said that "a businessman seeks professional advice on various facets of his business, but never expects to be told how to make profit.""

Source:Carlos Slim: Retrato Inédito

"Benjamin Graham, another of his mentors, said that "a businessman seeks professional advice on various facets of his business, but never expects to be told how to make profit.""

Source:Carlos Slim: Retrato Inédito

"Benjamin Graham who held the following principles: • • The investor must impose some kind of limit on the price he pays. • • Much more important than knowing when to buy or when to sell is knowing when not to buy. • • Nobody asks an expert how to conduct their business and their life... except for the stock market. • • There are three sectors where an educated person should behave like a brainless person or a child: 1) religion; 2) the stock market; 5) mathematics. In all three cases, it is not only "appropriate" to consider oneself a perfect ignoramus, but it is also rude to argue."

Source:Carlos Slim: Retrato Inédito

"Peter had continued to assess his principles of value investment and reached conclusions slightly at odds with purist Benjamin Graham theory."

Source:Routines and Orgies - The Life of Peter Cundill, Financial Genius, Philosopher, and Philanthropist

"The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham"

Source:The Education of a Value Investor

Appears In Volumes