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Benjamin Graham, Building a Profession
How One Man Created a Profession--and Entirely Transformed the World of Investing
"The small list of investment books that must grace the library of any serious investor--not to gather dust, but to be opened over and over again--just grew by one. This wonderful compilation of the wit and wisdom of Benjamin Graham is the new addition. Savor it. Learn from it. Treasure it."
John C. Bogle, founder and former Chief Executive, The Vanguard Group
"If youth is measured by creativity and excitement about new ideas and a thirst for learning, then Ben Graham-in his early 80s-was the youngest guy in the room when two-dozen stellar investment managers met for three days to explain the inner workings of investment management."
Charles D. Ellis, CFA, Bestselling Author of Winning the Loser's Game
"These writings, spanning over 30 years, help us understand even better the remarkable achievement of this visionary man and his lasting influence on the finance profession."
Burton Malkiel, Princeton University, Bestselling Author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street
"Investing involves the intelligent triangulation between fundamentals, psychology, and prices. Benjamin Graham, Building a Profession . . . illustrates how this investment legend never stopped thinking about this multi-dimensional challenge."
Seth Klarman, The Baupost Group
"Serious professionals in the investment business will delight in pouring over this and checking their own thoughts against those of the master."
Jeffrey J. Diermeier, CFA, Diermeier Family Foundation, and former CFA Institute president and CEO
"This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history and development of our profession and the importance of critical investment thinking."
Gary P. Brinson, CFA, GP Brinson Investments
"Some investors ('the happy few') know that Ben Graham's writings on financial analysis give them a leg up. So they will want to read this book, and other investors should."
Jean-Marie Eveillard, First Eagle Funds
"The CFA Institute and Jason Zweig have performed an invaluable service to our profession in collecting these [writings] in one volume."
William H. Miller, CFA, Legg Mason Funds Management
About the Book:
When Benjamin Graham began working on Wall Street in 1914, the center of American finance resembled a lawless frontier. The concept of regulatory laws was in its infancy, the SEC wouldn't see the light of day for 20 years, and many firms hid assets and earnings from nosy outsiders.
And security analysts didn't exist as we know them. They were called "diagnosticians," and they didn't do much analyzing. These investors prided themselves on going with the "feel" of the market, and most of them rarely looked at a financial statement.
Appalled by the lack of research and quantification, Benjamin Graham set out to change all this--and ended up creating the discipline of modern security analysis.
A collection of rare writings by and interviews with one of financial history's most brilliant visionaries, Benjamin Graham, Building a Profession presents Graham's evolution of ideas on security analysis spanning five decades. Articles include:
"Should Security Analysts Have a Professional Rating? The Affirmative Case"
Financial Analysts Journal (1945)
"Toward a Science of Security Analysis"
Financial Analysts Journal (1952)
"Inflated Treasuries and Deflated Stockholders: Are Corporations Milking Their Owners?"
Forbes (1932)
"The Future of Financial Analysis"
Financial Analysts Journal (1963)
"Controlling versus Outside Stockholders"
Virginia Law Weekly (1953)
These pages reveal the revolutionary ideas of a man who didn't so much find his calling as he created it from scratch--and opened the door for entire generations of investors.
"The small list of investment books that must grace the library of any serious investor--not to gather dust, but to be opened over and over again--just grew by one. This wonderful compilation of the wit and wisdom of Benjamin Graham is the new addition. Savor it. Learn from it. Treasure it."
John C. Bogle, founder and former Chief Executive, The Vanguard Group
"If youth is measured by creativity and excitement about new ideas and a thirst for learning, then Ben Graham-in his early 80s-was the youngest guy in the room when two-dozen stellar investment managers met for three days to explain the inner workings of investment management."
Charles D. Ellis, CFA, Bestselling Author of Winning the Loser's Game
"These writings, spanning over 30 years, help us understand even better the remarkable achievement of this visionary man and his lasting influence on the finance profession."
Burton Malkiel, Princeton University, Bestselling Author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street
"Investing involves the intelligent triangulation between fundamentals, psychology, and prices. Benjamin Graham, Building a Profession . . . illustrates how this investment legend never stopped thinking about this multi-dimensional challenge."
Seth Klarman, The Baupost Group
"Serious professionals in the investment business will delight in pouring over this and checking their own thoughts against those of the master."
Jeffrey J. Diermeier, CFA, Diermeier Family Foundation, and former CFA Institute president and CEO
"This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history and development of our profession and the importance of critical investment thinking."
Gary P. Brinson, CFA, GP Brinson Investments
"Some investors ('the happy few') know that Ben Graham's writings on financial analysis give them a leg up. So they will want to read this book, and other investors should."
Jean-Marie Eveillard, First Eagle Funds
"The CFA Institute and Jason Zweig have performed an invaluable service to our profession in collecting these [writings] in one volume."
William H. Miller, CFA, Legg Mason Funds Management
About the Book:
When Benjamin Graham began working on Wall Street in 1914, the center of American finance resembled a lawless frontier. The concept of regulatory laws was in its infancy, the SEC wouldn't see the light of day for 20 years, and many firms hid assets and earnings from nosy outsiders.
And security analysts didn't exist as we know them. They were called "diagnosticians," and they didn't do much analyzing. These investors prided themselves on going with the "feel" of the market, and most of them rarely looked at a financial statement.
Appalled by the lack of research and quantification, Benjamin Graham set out to change all this--and ended up creating the discipline of modern security analysis.
A collection of rare writings by and interviews with one of financial history's most brilliant visionaries, Benjamin Graham, Building a Profession presents Graham's evolution of ideas on security analysis spanning five decades. Articles include:
"Should Security Analysts Have a Professional Rating? The Affirmative Case"
Financial Analysts Journal (1945)
"Toward a Science of Security Analysis"
Financial Analysts Journal (1952)
"Inflated Treasuries and Deflated Stockholders: Are Corporations Milking Their Owners?"
Forbes (1932)
"The Future of Financial Analysis"
Financial Analysts Journal (1963)
"Controlling versus Outside Stockholders"
Virginia Law Weekly (1953)
These pages reveal the revolutionary ideas of a man who didn't so much find his calling as he created it from scratch--and opened the door for entire generations of investors.
335 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2009
About the author
Stefan Zweig
2,590 books11k followersStefan Zweig was one of the world's most famous writers during the 1920s and 1930s, especially in the U.S., South America, and Europe. He produced novels, plays, biographies, and journalist pieces. Among his most famous works are Beware of Pity, Letter from an Unknown Woman, and Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. He and his second wife committed suicide in 1942.
Zweig studied in Austria, France, and Germany before settling in Salzburg in 1913. In 1934, driven into exile by the Nazis, he emigrated to England and then, in 1940, to Brazil by way of New York. Finding only growing loneliness and disillusionment in their new surroundings, he and his second wife committed suicide.
Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Drei Meister, 1920; Three Masters) and of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Nietzsche (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, 1925; Master Builders). He achieved popularity with Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928; The Tide of Fortune), five historical portraits in miniature. He wrote full-scale, intuitive rather than objective, biographies of the French statesman Joseph Fouché (1929), Mary Stuart (1935), and others. His stories include those in Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925; Conflicts). He also wrote a psychological novel, Ungeduld des Herzens (1938; Beware of Pity), and translated works of Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Verhaeren.
Most recently, his works provided the inspiration for 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Zweig studied in Austria, France, and Germany before settling in Salzburg in 1913. In 1934, driven into exile by the Nazis, he emigrated to England and then, in 1940, to Brazil by way of New York. Finding only growing loneliness and disillusionment in their new surroundings, he and his second wife committed suicide.
Zweig's interest in psychology and the teachings of Sigmund Freud led to his most characteristic work, the subtle portrayal of character. Zweig's essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Drei Meister, 1920; Three Masters) and of Friedrich Hölderlin, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Nietzsche (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, 1925; Master Builders). He achieved popularity with Sternstunden der Menschheit (1928; The Tide of Fortune), five historical portraits in miniature. He wrote full-scale, intuitive rather than objective, biographies of the French statesman Joseph Fouché (1929), Mary Stuart (1935), and others. His stories include those in Verwirrung der Gefühle (1925; Conflicts). He also wrote a psychological novel, Ungeduld des Herzens (1938; Beware of Pity), and translated works of Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Emile Verhaeren.
Most recently, his works provided the inspiration for 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2020
This book contains a lot of valuable wisdom, however I find Benjamin Grahams writing style difficult to follow.
Graham is praised and endorsed by financial heavyweights such as Warren Buffet, John Bogle and quoted by nobel prize winning economists not to mention all the students he taught and clients he invested for over his long career in investing and financial teaching. In the book Building a profession he details the creation of security and finance analyst. He appears to have created the profession or at least contributed heavily to it.
Many of the lessons from 100-50 years ago (1920-1970) are very much applicable today and he makes very interesting and valid points.
However - a lot of Grahams writing comes off as pompous and wordy often rambling on around the subject like a self important college professor rambling on boring the reader to sleep with long winded analogies using big words.
The book put me to sleep many times and I had a hard time finishing it, much like Security Analysis (which I was unable to finish) though The Intelligent Investor was much better.
Jason Zweigs intros and edits were much easier to read and a highlight of the book.
Graham is praised and endorsed by financial heavyweights such as Warren Buffet, John Bogle and quoted by nobel prize winning economists not to mention all the students he taught and clients he invested for over his long career in investing and financial teaching. In the book Building a profession he details the creation of security and finance analyst. He appears to have created the profession or at least contributed heavily to it.
Many of the lessons from 100-50 years ago (1920-1970) are very much applicable today and he makes very interesting and valid points.
However - a lot of Grahams writing comes off as pompous and wordy often rambling on around the subject like a self important college professor rambling on boring the reader to sleep with long winded analogies using big words.
The book put me to sleep many times and I had a hard time finishing it, much like Security Analysis (which I was unable to finish) though The Intelligent Investor was much better.
Jason Zweigs intros and edits were much easier to read and a highlight of the book.
to-buy
May 7, 2025The editor is not Stefan Zweig, but Jason Zweig.
December 19, 2022
A great compilation of articles by who is essentially the founder of the CFA Program. He espoused the need for analyst certification, and the series of articles definitely showed the important parts of an analyst's repertoire, from his perspective. Of course, value investing is at the center of his recommendations, but he allows for analysts to work on what works best for them. His constant plea would be to approach the process of security / financial analysis through the scientific method, and to allow analysts' recommendations to be judged. He also advocates for recognizing the asset-value side of a price assessment, and a speculative / forward-looking side of a price assessment - good advice even today. All in all a good read, I can see why the articles paint a picture of a pioneer.
(Nov 29 update) Rating remains the same. Book remains a classic in terms of charting the path of the financial analyst. Even the issues discussed either are still relevant today, or have their direct parallels. Benjamin Graham's clarion call for professionalism continues to be heard today.
(Nov 29 update) Rating remains the same. Book remains a classic in terms of charting the path of the financial analyst. Even the issues discussed either are still relevant today, or have their direct parallels. Benjamin Graham's clarion call for professionalism continues to be heard today.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews