Value Investing: Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment

Excellent book I knew it would be good when it was recommended by Seth Klarman. What I found most interesting is it doesn’t recommend dcf because if it worked then the same analyst would be winning awards but they aren’t. He recommends to use it only to reverse engineer so see what the market expects of the stock.

I purchased this book some weeks ago, but finally had a chance to sit down with it this weekend at a coffee shop. My initial thought before I opened the cover was that it was yet another book on value investing. I would have been thrilled if I gleaned just a little tidbit from this tome. Boy, what an understatement. Montier has written a gem. It is an honor to be the first to post a review on Amazon because I feel like I "discovered" this book Value Investing: Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Investment is a compendium of the author's pieces and speeches while he was chief strategist at Societe Generale (he is presently at Grantham Mayo according to the dust jacket). For those fortunate enough to have all the author's pieces from his SG days, this book may not be worth purchasing. For those of us who are not so fortunate, this book has more kernels of wisdom on value investing than any book I have read in years. A quick synopsis: Part I Montier debunks much of the academic literature on efficient markets and CAPM. He takes much of the issues Buffett has with modern finance theory and goes into further detail. Unlike many books on value investing which often give a mystical air to the subject of value investing, he backs up many of his assertions with a plethora of data and studies . . . and he doesn't mince words: Chapter Two is entitled CAPM is Cr-p*. Along the way, he provides value investing's definition of risk which is very different from how "modern finance" defines risk, but it is a definition of risk that investors post-2008 can readily identify with. His chapter on the Danger of Discounted Cash Flows echoes the work of Rappaport and Maboussin but does it succinctly in a scant 9 pages Part II This section delves into the area of Behavioral Finance, which I gather has been the topic of his previous three books. The last chapter in this section addresses why value investing is so hard for many investors to implement and hence its continuing source of advantage for those who can overcome the psychological hurdles. Part III This section covers the philosophy of value investing. His "Ten Tenets of his Investment Creed" should be taped as a list to every value investor's computer screen. Part IV This section focuses on empirical evidence from overseas and applies an old formula from Benjamin Graham's playbook to global markets. Part V This section is unique among books on value investing in my opinion. It is devoted to short-selling. He provides a methodology and framework to finding short-sale candidates and empirical data on how well the methodology has worked over the years. Part VI This section entitled Real-time Value Investing contains articles from the 2008 and 2009 period. Unlike economists and many market strategists who hedge their calls sufficiently so that it is difficult to prove whether they are right or wrong, Montier is intellectually honest enough to put his thoughts during the recent financial crisis out in the open. Time will eventually tell if he was mostly right or wrong, but you have to admire his willingness to show where he stands. I own over 500 books on investing. After you've read the first hundred or so, I think it is easy to become jaded and think nothing new has been written in years. Montier's book proves me wrong. His book is an incredible "food for thought" for the thoughtful investor.

Dieses anspruchsvolle und ergiebige Fachbuch ist eine Fundgrube für Erkenntnisse und Ableitungen zur persönlichen Nutzung. Eine gute Empfehlung für alle, die weniger an Glück als gute Anbahnung glauben

Producto impecable, como nuevo!

Les premiers chapitres sont très théoriques et ennuyeux, cependant la suite est excellente. La majeure partie du bouquin est constitué des articles "Mind Matters" que Montier publiait chaque semaine lorsqu'il était à la Société Générale. Ces articles ont tous étaient publiés entre fin 2007 et mai-juin 2009, en pleine crise. C'est absolument génial pour non seulement apprendre des techniques simples et efficaces de sélection d'investissement mais en plus pour avoir un retour à chaud sur la pire crise financière depuis 1929 par un des meilleurs stratégistes de la planète. Montier consacre également quelques chapitres à détailler les biais psychologiques qui nuisent à l'investisseur et l'empêchent de prendre toujours de bonnes décisions. Et surtout il nous donne des outils pour s'affranchir de ces biais. Bref c'est un concentré de bonnes idées, de bon sens et c'est assez abordable pour les personnes n'ayant pas de formation financière avancée. (je déconseille à ceux qui n'ont pas au moins 2-3 ans d'expériences de la bourse et de l'analyse boursière/ financière). Une bonne maîtrise de l'anglais est aussi nécessaire pour bien tout comprendre. Dommage que le prix soit récemment passé à 30 €, c'est assez cher mais ce livre est un futur classique à mon avis. Je recommande très chaudement. PS : pour les plus économe, attendez la réédition en couverture papier, ce sera moins cher et vous aurez surement des mises à jour.