The Most Important Thing Illuminated

Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor

Howard Marks (Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.), Bruce Greenwald

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Hardback

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English

Columbia University Press
15 January 2013

Economics & Business; Investment & securities

"Howard Marks's The Most Important Thing distilled the investing insight of his celebrated client memos into a single volume and, for the first time, made his time-tested philosophy available to general readers. In this edition, Marks's wisdom is joined by the comments, insights, and counterpoints of four renowned investors and investment educators: Christopher C. Davis (Davis Funds), Joel Greenblatt (Gotham Capital), Paul Johnson (Nicusa Capital), and Seth A. Klarman (Baupost Group).

These experts lend insight into such concepts as ""second-level thinking,"" the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Marks also adds his own annotations, expanding on his book's original themes and issues. A new chapter addresses the importance of reasonable expectations, and a foreword by Bruce C. Greenwald, called ""a guru to Wall Street's gurus"" by the New York Times, speaks on value investing, productivity, and the economics of information.
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Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. Now for the first time, all readers can benefit from Marks's wisdom, concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur and seasoned investor.

Informed by a lifetime of experience and study, The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways.

Marks expounds on such concepts as ""second-level thinking,"" the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Frankly and honestly assessing his own decisions--and occasional missteps--he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking, risk assessment, and investment strategy. Encouraging investors to be ""contrarian,"" Marks wisely judges market cycles and achieves returns through aggressive yet measured action. Which element is the most essential? Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects, and each of Marks's subjects proves to be the most important thing.

""This is that rarity, a useful book.""--Warren Buffett"

By: Howard Marks (Oaktree Capital Management L.P.)
Foreword by: Bruce Greenwald
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 1
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 468g
ISBN: 9780231162845
ISBN 10: 0231162847
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 15 January 2013
Audience: Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Undergraduate , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction The Most Important Thing Is... 1. Second-Level Thinking 2. Understanding Market Efficiency (and Its Limitations) 3. Value 4. The Relationship Between Price and Value 5. Understanding Risk 6. Recognizing Risk 7. Controlling Risk 8. Being Attentive to Cycles 9. Awareness of the Pendulum 10. Combating Negative Influences 11. Contrarianism 12. Finding Bargains 13. Patient Opportunism 14. Knowing What You Don't Know 15. Having a Sense for Where We Stand 16. Appreciating the Role of Luck 17. Investing Defensively 18. Avoiding Pitfalls 19. Adding Value 20. Pulling It All Together

Howard Marks is chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based investment firm with seventy-five billion dollars under management. He holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School and an MBA in accounting and marketing from the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor. Bruce C. Greenwald holds the Robert Heilbrunn Professorship of Finance and Asset Management at Columbia Business School and is the academic director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing. He is the coauthor of The Curse of the Mogul: What's Wrong with the World's Leading Media Companies.

Reviews for The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor

When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they're the first thing I open and read. I always learn something, and that goes double for his book. -- Praise for The Most Important Thing, Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway If you take an exceptional talent and have them obsess about value investing for several decades, including deep thinking about its very essence with written analysis along the way, you may come up with a book as useful to value investors as this one -- but don't count on it. -- Praise for The Most Important Thing, Jeremy Grantham, Cofounder and Chief Investment Strategist, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo A clear and expert resource for all investors. -- Praise for The Most Important Thing Kirkus Reviews Veteran value-investing manager Howard Marks draws on pithy memos he wrote to clients over the years to dispense insightful advice on everything from risk taking to the role of luck. -- Praise for The Most Important Thing Money Magazine