In the first few chapters I nearly stopped reading this book. It starts out with some generic advice and typical investment industry nonsense, like saying investors who only get market returns have failed (if doing better than 90% of people is failing...) or active managers who stay out of a bull market will have smaller losses in a downturn (no, just no, this doesn't happen).
But then it actually got better. The book mixes general commentary with bits from letters going back several decades.
Some of the commentary does actually go deeper than the platitudes and give you useful reference points. For example one part shows how investors may stretch the limits of risk in unusual assets even while they are avoiding the stock market, so you won't see a general euphoria. Another idea in the book that I realized some time ago but almost no one says is that investors commonly think higher risk investments will deliver higher returns, but if that was true they wouldn't actually be higher risk. Sometimes you just lose.
The parts from past letters are interesting because you can compare the way of thinking with what was happening at the time. Some show timing that's too good to be true, like a letter in October 2008 that said it was a good time to buy. Others are a bit early, like other letters from 2004 - 2006 that call out excessive risk in the market. All of them are interesting because we know what ended up happening.
It would have been even better to see specific instances from past letters that turned out to be wrong. There is some discussion about how the right call may have the wrong result and vice versa, and the book doesn't really go to great lengths to make it seem like Marks is always right, but there could be good lessons in showing more of the other side.
To the uninformed investor this book could deliver the wrong lessons, or a false sense of certainty about the future. It does warn against that, but that warning is more likely to be received in the right way if you have read a lot about investing already. And the basic lessons are repeated in hundreds of other books.
If you have that frame of reference you should know to question everything you read, no matter who it comes from (Warren Buffett's annual letters have very few flaws, but this is not on the same level). From that perspective, if you're willing to read through some material that is a waste of time, there are some valuable reminders in here that will make you question your thinking in a good way.
Those are good enough to give it 4 stars, even though it can be misleading to beginners and slow for more experienced readers. It could have been written better for one of those audiences instead of falling in the middle and serving both poorly. It is unfortunately easy to take the wrong lessons from the book.
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The most important thing Paperback
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Please Read Notes: Brand New, International Softcover Edition, Printed in black and white pages, minor self wear on the cover or pages, Sale restriction may be printed on the book, but Book name, contents, and author are exactly same as Hardcover Edition. Fast delivery through DHL/FedEx express.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHARPER BUSINESS
- Dimensions20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm
- ISBN-109353022797
- ISBN-13978-9353022792
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Product details
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 9353022797
- ISBN-13 : 978-9353022792
- Item weight : 218 g
- Dimensions : 20.3 x 25.4 x 4.7 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: #20,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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About the author
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Howard Marks is chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, a
Los Angeles-based investment firm with $80 billion 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.
Customer reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
2,006 global ratings
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Top reviews from Canada
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4.0 out of 5 stars
not for everyone, but if you know enough and skip half the book there are good reminders
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 14, 2020Verified Purchase
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 31, 2022
Verified Purchase
Book arrived in very bad shape. I bought a new book and this book was definitely used.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 4, 2021
Verified Purchase
Books for reading
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
A must read. In my top 10 investing book.
Great complement to Howard Marks memos.
Great complement to Howard Marks memos.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
Très bon livre
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 16, 2020
Verified Purchase
Good book, delivery quickly
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
I found myself highlighting most everything in this book....it is jam packed with wisdom. Marks is an experienced common sense investor, which may be more rare than many people think. Read this book.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
Mind-opening lessons about the importance of understanding risk for the seasoned and novice investor alike. I'll be reading this one again.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Djilly L.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't grow my wealth yet
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2019Verified Purchase
This book is not so much about fancy academic financial calculations. Nor does it provide a single trick that guarantees astronomical profits. However it does go back to the basics and stresses several key principles for survival in financial markets. As such, there is not a single important thing in investing, to which I do agree. I was less pleased with the endless references to Wharton, and the books from Taleb and Warren Buffet that most people with interest in the subject will have read.
The book addresses topics like market psychology (go against the crowd at extreme ends of investor psychology), the asymmetrical relationship between gains vs losses (you need a 100% gain to recover from a 50% loss), estimates, economical cycles, behaviour, risk management. And the differences between loser's game and winner's game, or the difference between offense and defence.
The book is more a collection of market comments and thoughts from his frequent letters and a memoir of his career. Each chapter is fairly brief and informative, although my thoughts drifted away with a certain frequency in the first half of the book. All in all it is a decent recap but not overly revealing. If you fail to realise you need to take risk, be contrarian and that you need come up with unique ideas to generate excess performance as an investor you would have been ramping up losses or been out of business soon.
As an style-agnostic active equity fund manager of a fairly sizeable pool of AuM I didn’t always agree with the author’s arguments as a value investor. But it was helpful to see some basic principles phrased. And I developed more sympathy towards the end of the book, but more so because it's there that the author alludes more to core principles that I and my team have stuck to for the past few decades. But there wasn't anything new or that we haven't brought in practice. As such it's more an instruction for new or retail investors about how successful asset mangers think, act and operate. But then you wonder what they would do with the concept of ‘alpha’ or where they would get their unique insight or ‘second level of understanding’ to make proper investment decisions.. Also all these concepts are helpful and meaningful but don't expect to learn 'how' to invest i.e. there is nothing about the what the author calls the 'micro approach' the selection and actual analysis of assets and investments, while he repeatedly tresses that such fundamental research and analysis is key to successful investment returns.
The book addresses topics like market psychology (go against the crowd at extreme ends of investor psychology), the asymmetrical relationship between gains vs losses (you need a 100% gain to recover from a 50% loss), estimates, economical cycles, behaviour, risk management. And the differences between loser's game and winner's game, or the difference between offense and defence.
The book is more a collection of market comments and thoughts from his frequent letters and a memoir of his career. Each chapter is fairly brief and informative, although my thoughts drifted away with a certain frequency in the first half of the book. All in all it is a decent recap but not overly revealing. If you fail to realise you need to take risk, be contrarian and that you need come up with unique ideas to generate excess performance as an investor you would have been ramping up losses or been out of business soon.
As an style-agnostic active equity fund manager of a fairly sizeable pool of AuM I didn’t always agree with the author’s arguments as a value investor. But it was helpful to see some basic principles phrased. And I developed more sympathy towards the end of the book, but more so because it's there that the author alludes more to core principles that I and my team have stuck to for the past few decades. But there wasn't anything new or that we haven't brought in practice. As such it's more an instruction for new or retail investors about how successful asset mangers think, act and operate. But then you wonder what they would do with the concept of ‘alpha’ or where they would get their unique insight or ‘second level of understanding’ to make proper investment decisions.. Also all these concepts are helpful and meaningful but don't expect to learn 'how' to invest i.e. there is nothing about the what the author calls the 'micro approach' the selection and actual analysis of assets and investments, while he repeatedly tresses that such fundamental research and analysis is key to successful investment returns.


Djilly L.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2019
The book addresses topics like market psychology (go against the crowd at extreme ends of investor psychology), the asymmetrical relationship between gains vs losses (you need a 100% gain to recover from a 50% loss), estimates, economical cycles, behaviour, risk management. And the differences between loser's game and winner's game, or the difference between offense and defence.
The book is more a collection of market comments and thoughts from his frequent letters and a memoir of his career. Each chapter is fairly brief and informative, although my thoughts drifted away with a certain frequency in the first half of the book. All in all it is a decent recap but not overly revealing. If you fail to realise you need to take risk, be contrarian and that you need come up with unique ideas to generate excess performance as an investor you would have been ramping up losses or been out of business soon.
As an style-agnostic active equity fund manager of a fairly sizeable pool of AuM I didn’t always agree with the author’s arguments as a value investor. But it was helpful to see some basic principles phrased. And I developed more sympathy towards the end of the book, but more so because it's there that the author alludes more to core principles that I and my team have stuck to for the past few decades. But there wasn't anything new or that we haven't brought in practice. As such it's more an instruction for new or retail investors about how successful asset mangers think, act and operate. But then you wonder what they would do with the concept of ‘alpha’ or where they would get their unique insight or ‘second level of understanding’ to make proper investment decisions.. Also all these concepts are helpful and meaningful but don't expect to learn 'how' to invest i.e. there is nothing about the what the author calls the 'micro approach' the selection and actual analysis of assets and investments, while he repeatedly tresses that such fundamental research and analysis is key to successful investment returns.
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14 people found this helpful
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Gaurav Sharma
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful book for those interested in learning about investing
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on December 30, 2018Verified Purchase
The book has wonderful insights for the would be investor. Some snippets which I found particularly insightful include:
1. Efficient Market Hypothesis is not completely accurate in certain situations
2. This is because as humans we deal not only with information but also with emotions / psychology
3. Therefore, we need to focus on those assets where there might be divergence from the Efficient Market Hypothesis
4. For that we need a Second-Level thinking, not necessarily contrarian but different from the lot
5. Price is different from Value. Price is a function of fundamentals and market psychology. While Value is mainly a function of fundamentals.
6. The relationship between Risk and Return is not completely linear. Higher Risk entails an element of higher losses too which we tend to ignore assuming a linear relation.
7. A good portfolio considers Risk holistically and balances / hedges it appropriately.
8. Fundamentally, markets operate in cycles. People can benefit from them if they are more attuned.
9. Understand the psychological pitfalls and your own limitations around investing.
10. Appreciate the role of luck which stops you from becoming overconfident.
No wonder, Warren Buffet likes it. Having observed the market, I could relate to many of the ideas mentioned here. This book provides good guidance for anybody who wants to get into investing.
1. Efficient Market Hypothesis is not completely accurate in certain situations
2. This is because as humans we deal not only with information but also with emotions / psychology
3. Therefore, we need to focus on those assets where there might be divergence from the Efficient Market Hypothesis
4. For that we need a Second-Level thinking, not necessarily contrarian but different from the lot
5. Price is different from Value. Price is a function of fundamentals and market psychology. While Value is mainly a function of fundamentals.
6. The relationship between Risk and Return is not completely linear. Higher Risk entails an element of higher losses too which we tend to ignore assuming a linear relation.
7. A good portfolio considers Risk holistically and balances / hedges it appropriately.
8. Fundamentally, markets operate in cycles. People can benefit from them if they are more attuned.
9. Understand the psychological pitfalls and your own limitations around investing.
10. Appreciate the role of luck which stops you from becoming overconfident.
No wonder, Warren Buffet likes it. Having observed the market, I could relate to many of the ideas mentioned here. This book provides good guidance for anybody who wants to get into investing.
50 people found this helpful
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Mark
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant book but not for your first investment book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 17, 2012Verified Purchase
I don't often write positive reviews (being a value investor with a negative disposition :)) However this book has prompted me to do so. You need to know I read incessantly and have been investing for 15 years so I was not looking at this as a beginner looking for an investing guide. This book is definitely not an investment guide book. I have also read this author's memos to his clients at Oaktree Capital on which much of the wisdom in this book is based. This author is well worth listening to. He will show you how to think differently than the rest of the market (The only way you will make money). He explains the market in a way you may not (and I hadn't) thought of it before. In my view this book should be required reading alongside "Security Analysis", "The Intelligent Investor" and anything by Bruce Greenwald on investing. It is an inspired book and has completely changed my outlook on the markets and on investing. I am not exaggerating when I say this book has changed my thinking. Well worth reading, but not your first investment book. Read "The Intelligent Investor" first and then this and then "Security Analysis" and then read Bruce Greenwald's work and then Warren Buffet's letters to shareholders at Berkshire Hathaway.
39 people found this helpful
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G Singh
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Most Important Thing is Read This Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 25, 2020Verified Purchase
The Most Important Thing is a timeless piece of work! You will be glad to read such a book, I can’t show enough appreciation and respect to the author Howard Marks for sharing so much with us, we have no excuses not to succeed in life especially with our investments and trading. Absolutely fantastic lessons. A re read at least multiple times a year!
3 people found this helpful
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D. L. Anderton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 7, 2012Verified Purchase
I must admit that I am a sucker for anything that Warren Buffet endorses. I have read numerous books over the years on investing and this is one of the best. It reminds me of when I read the intelligent investor for the first time by expanding my investment horizon. This is the type of book that I will read, like the intelligent investor, at least once a year to make sure I don't forget any of the valuable lessons between its pages. Buyer beware, this book is not going to show you exactly how to value companies but instead will give you a sound investing philosophy to follow. Buy this book you will not be disappointed.
11 people found this helpful
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