James Grant on Ben Graham

Earlier this month, Jim Grant of Grant's Interest Rate Observer addressed the Center for Jewish History in New York. His topic was "My Hero, Benjamin Grossbaum."

You can read the text of Grant's remarks here.

Towards the end, he speaks of Graham's masterpiece, Security Analysis:

"Security Analysis" is Graham's legacy and testament. It is a comprehensive guide to investing as investing was defined and practiced in the early decades of the 20^th century. "Value investing" is the name posterity attaches to Graham's approach to seeking out securities that afford the buyer a margin of safety. Graham himself called it simply—"investing." It might trouble his shade to know that even after seven decades of financial evolution, only one Wall Street tribe—the one that styles itself value-seeking—consistently strives not to overpay. We are a kind of cult. For the mainstream, it is as true today as it was in 1929 that value is nearly the same as earning power. Certainly, to judge by the 2007 credit crackup, balance-sheet analysis isn't much more faithfully practiced today than it was in the days of Calvin Coolidge.

It's a pretty long piece. You may want to bookmark it or print it out to read later. But anyone devoted to the value approach will find this worthwhile reading.