Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor

Top positive review

Fantastic insights. Best book I've read on value investing!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 8, 2020

I can't say enough about this book. So much to take in, so get out your highlighter (says the happy nerd in me)! It is so clearly laid out and explains the illusions that most new investers buy into, the tremendous effect that psychological factors have on the market, the discipline and restraint required and the reasoning behind these ideas.
Definitely had to do some side learning to understand some concepts as I'm new at this, but the book is written in an easy style that makes it accessible for all.
Love it!

One person found this helpful

Top critical review

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Chiorisi

Three Stars

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 20, 2017

Good but redundant with all the useful and free online teachings.

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From Canada

Chiorisi

Three Stars

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Good but redundant with all the useful and free online teachings.

Helpful

MVH

Poorly written. Useless commentary from contributors.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 31, 2020

Verified Purchase

I kept thinking as I read the book; “get to the point!”

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C. Chen

very dull

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 2, 2019

I have advanced training in many area (economics, finance, quants) and I found this book very dull. It's very interesting about risk, uncertainty, and risk control (yet may be a bit difficult for average people as he talks about quants stuffs). But the book becomes duller and duller as it progress... The author said the most important thing is intrinsic value, yet doesn't offer his version of calculating it (I comes to conclusion that they calculate the value rather different)... as the author said, superior investor has superior insight, yet offers no insight half way through the book; 3 stars

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A. J.

Nonsense with a mix of common sense

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 27, 2019

Zero practical value. Common sense stuff reiterated into oblivion in the most nonsensical way: To buy a stock, decide how much risk you’re willing to accept, accepting risk is important, but before you do so, you need to value a stock that you intend to buy, but before you decide on a stock to buy, determine how much risk you’re capable of accepting. There, I just summarized a book for you.

Do yourself a favour, if you’re anxious to read it, get it from your local library, don’t spend your money.

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From other countries

MLK

Nothing for investors or traders here. Move on to useful books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

There is nothing useful for investors or trader in this book. Amazingly, this author has managed to write two books that amassed 500 pages on market cycles driven by emotions and how he is an intellectual superior. You can get all he has to say with the first two chapters of either of the books. His phrase ‘second level thinker’ is a constant drum beat though out both books. This is how he describes his superiority over us ‘first level thinkers’. This is a man who has gotten rich off other people’s money. He has done so by being politically and professionally connected. Now, he is richer than me. So, he is considerable more successful (richer) than I am. I have to give him that.
His book implies that an investor can do well by paying attention to public sentiment. The problem with this is these sentiment last for 25% of any move in either direction. Another problem with this concepts is they promote public sentiment to extend moves to maximize their profits. Since this is so scary for us first level thinkers, we need to pay him to manage our money for us.
In this book he says in passing, he uses technical analysis information. In the second book he ridicules people who use technical analysis. I’m not sure how this works out.
He also implies; these books are used at the Columbia Business Schools. There is no way lesson plans can be developed from this book, unless you just make one and repeatedly use that plan. It must be required reading to expand his sales.
I force myself to read every book I purchase. There is almost always a nice little nugget in there somewhere. Here, I’ve been unable to find any nuggets. Just mind numbing repetition. Unless you want to accept his premise that cats chase carrots up trees. Not birds, Carrots. Well maybe it’s just beyond this first level thinker to see the cleverness of this analogy.
Conclusion: Traders and investors, there is nothing useful here for you.

61 people found this helpful

TheWildBoy

Good book for value investors

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 1, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have listened to a lot of Howard Mark’s videos and while I personally like his approach to investing this book had basic ideas that pretty much all long time traders/investors know.

This is useful for beginners!

Matteo

Non riesco a finire i suoi libri

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on May 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

Seppur scriva davvero contenuti estremamente utili e di grande saggezza, sia questo libro che “Mastering Market Cycle” non sono riuscito a finirli. Sono sempre arrivato quasi fino alla fine esausto e annoiato. È davvero ripetitivo e secondo me non fluido nella scrittura, non riesco a farmi trascinare e coinvolgere. Vieni sempre interrotto da qualche discorso troppo complicato o già frequentemente affrontato in termini diversi nella pagine precedenti. Sconsiglio, purtroppo.

2 people found this helpful

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brett baker

Bit repetitive but solid book

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on October 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

Not the best read but some good information in there. Bit repetitive.

Hamada Kaido

waste of time sadly

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 19, 2021

Verified Purchase

this is an absolute investing beginner book. marks is a brilliant investor and his freely available letters do him much more justice than this annoyingly annotated drivel sorry howard.

Donald Swanson

waste of money

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 2, 2022

Verified Purchase

I'll tell you the message of the whole book: do contrary to what the majority is doing.

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