Benjamin Graham / Value Investing / Discipline / Intrinsic Value
The Intelligent Investor
Main Takeaway
Investing should be based on discipline, intrinsic value, patience, and protecting capital.
Book Reflection
The Intelligent Investor had a massive impact on the way I view markets and investing. It helped me understand that investing is not about chasing whatever stock is going up the fastest. It is about discipline, patience, valuation, and protecting capital.
The biggest thing this book taught me was how to think about fair value and intrinsic value. Before reading it, it is easy to look at a company and only think about the share price. This book helped me understand that the real question is whether the business is worth more or less than what the market is currently pricing it at.
The Intelligent Investor also made me think differently about market emotions. The idea of "Mr Market" helped me understand that prices move around every day, but that does not mean the real value of a business changes every day. Sometimes the market is overly excited, and sometimes it is overly fearful. My job is not to react emotionally, but to stay disciplined and make decisions based on reasoning.
This book has played a massive part in how I want to pursue investing for the rest of my life. It made me more serious about writing down my reasoning, reviewing my decisions, and not letting short-term price movements control my behaviour.