Standard and Poor's 500 Guide 2013

Saving some time, here's the review I posted to Amazon a while back:

Back in the 80’s and 90’s when I was an economic development consultant in Japan, the Shikiho listing of company data was the go to source for information about companies in general. We used it to identify companies likely to perform strongly in the near future, and therefore likely to invest overseas, too. Obviously though, it also proved useful for identifying companies that might be good prospects in which to invest in general.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 Guide provides a lot of information that is very reminiscent of the Shikiho. I felt vaguely nostalgic flipping through the company explanations and financial summaries, reviewing the year to year performance of the stock price, P&L summary statements, earnings, dividend statements, and all the rest . The information contained in this book is very thorough and useful to a point. In this day and age, however, the Internet provides a number of resources to get more reliable and up to date information that would probably be of more value to most investors. Although it does provide buy, sell and hold recommendations, because this is Standard and Poor’s book of all 500 companies contained in their exchange, it does not offer much in the way of in depth analysis, but as a source of raw data for performing your own analysis, it is invaluable. You’ll just need to be prepared to provide your own investment strategy.

I’m very glad the publisher provided me a copy of this book gratis for this review, but I would say, the information contained is well worth the retail price. I rate this book as a “buy”.

Benjamin Graham and the Power of Growth Stocks

by Frederick K. Martin

Compared with other books that I have read about Ben Graham, Benjamin Graham and the Power of Growth Stocks is definitely the clearest, most concise, and easily the most useful of all of them. What makes this book particularly interesting is how it revisits the investing philosophy of Mr. Graham with an angle toward using, maybe even zeroing in on, just growth stocks. Once it defines growth stock and clarifies why Mr. Graham’s principles apply, it can then expound on the most tangent of Mr. Graham’s principles and expand them in light of the modern investment environment. What really makes this book a winner is how it reproduces a long lost formula of Mr. Graham’s and then explains a tangible, executable method for actually using that formula to calculate the value of a growth stock and whether or not it is one that should be invested in. Too often we hear some investment advisor tell us, “This formula works, unless of course it doesn’t”. There is none of that here. You set the margin of safety (explained in the book) where you are comfortable. You set the growth rate (here called the “hurdle rate”) you need (or want) to achieve. You look up or calculate the values for the company you want to invest in. Then you apply Graham’s formula. If the numbers match, you’ve found a stock you can safely and confidently invest in. If they don’t, you have to keep looking or change your expectations. The choice is left to you. While I wouldn’t recommend this approach to a beginner, I think this methodology is ideal for a disciplined investor. By constantly referring to Graham’s teachings, the author has really reached an investment methodology that is understandable, achievable, and repeatable. The writing is crisp and friendly, and the style is homey without being corny or preachy. Above all, the author has a solid understanding of the investment principles of Ben Graham, as well as experience using them, and producing positive investment results. Without a doubt, Ben Graham’s growth stock approach is sensible, making this book probably the best investment book I’ve read this year. That’s definitely worth the full load of dollar marks.