Common Stocks and Common Sense: The Strategies, Analyses, Decisions, and Emotions of a Particularly Successful Value Investor
- Downloads：9502
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-31 10:53:46
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Edgar Wachenheim
- ISBN：1119259606
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Deep insight and candid discussion from one of Wall Street's best investorsCommon Stocks and Common Sense provides detailed insight into common stock investing， using a case-study approach based on real-world investments。 Author Edgar Wachenheim is the 28-year CEO of Greenhaven Associates， boasting an average annual portfolio comparable to Warren Buffet's。 In this book， he shares his knowledge and experiences by providing detailed analyses of actual investments made by himself and other investors。 The discussion covers the entire investment process， including the softer， human side， with candid insight into the joys and frustrations， intensities and pressures， and risks and uncertainties。 The unique emphasis on behavioral economics and real-world cases set this book apart from the herd--but it's Wachenheim himself and his deeply-examined perspective that elevates the book beyond a mere investing guide。
Between 1990 and 2014， a typical portfolio managed by Wachenheim enjoyed an average annual return in excess of 18%， achieved using relatively conservative stocks and no financial leverage。 As a proponent of evidence and example， his analysis of real cases serve as a valuable education for anyone looking to improve their own investment practices。
Understand investment through the lens of a Wall Street leader
Dig into the details of real-world common stock investing
Learn how to invest creatively and minimize risk
Go beyond theory to study strategy on a case-by-case basis
Investment principles and strategies are easy to find--entire libraries have been written about theories and methods and what 'should' happen。 But this book goes beyond the typical guide to show you how these ideas are applied in the real world--and what actually happened。 Investors seeking real insight， real expertise， and a proven track record will find Common Stocks and Common Sense a uniquely useful resource。
Between 1990 and 2014， a typical portfolio managed by Wachenheim enjoyed an average annual return in excess of 18%， achieved using relatively conservative stocks and no financial leverage。 As a proponent of evidence and example， his analysis of real cases serve as a valuable education for anyone looking to improve their own investment practices。
Understand investment through the lens of a Wall Street leader
Dig into the details of real-world common stock investing
Learn how to invest creatively and minimize risk
Go beyond theory to study strategy on a case-by-case basis
Investment principles and strategies are easy to find--entire libraries have been written about theories and methods and what 'should' happen。 But this book goes beyond the typical guide to show you how these ideas are applied in the real world--and what actually happened。 Investors seeking real insight， real expertise， and a proven track record will find Common Stocks and Common Sense a uniquely useful resource。
Reviews
Ganesh
，
Would highly recommend this book - learnings based on case study methodology。 This is a rare book， which actually discusses the thought process behind the author's investments。 Would highly recommend this book - learnings based on case study methodology。 This is a rare book， which actually discusses the thought process behind the author's investments。 。。。more
Lily
，
simple & straightforward
David García
，
The book navigates across the thinkings ot Ed Wachenheim and it does address some important aspects such as watching the history of some markets and not just the business。 It is interesting how he takes decisions against the current and becomes success and somehow when written it seems so logical。 Chapter highlights for me are the Boeing， Lowe's， Southwest Airlines and the best part was the final chapter which makes emphasis on the lessons learned across the book。 Full of financial terms but sti The book navigates across the thinkings ot Ed Wachenheim and it does address some important aspects such as watching the history of some markets and not just the business。 It is interesting how he takes decisions against the current and becomes success and somehow when written it seems so logical。 Chapter highlights for me are the Boeing， Lowe's， Southwest Airlines and the best part was the final chapter which makes emphasis on the lessons learned across the book。 Full of financial terms but still understandable for someone with a bit of experience。 。。。more
Adrian Zaharescu
，
Great book for those who want to learn by example。 Takes you through the author's thought process。 I wish there were more examples of bad investments to learn from。 Great book for those who want to learn by example。 Takes you through the author's thought process。 I wish there were more examples of bad investments to learn from。 。。。more
David
，
Excellent book on value investing using a case study approach
Sarthak Mane
，
A bit boring book if you ask me， since he does analysis of companies only。 would have been more interesting if all the chapters were like the last chapter。 neverthless， i did learn from this book。 thank you edgar wachenheim。
Stephanus
，
very clear explanation of why the author would land on an investment decision why he wouldn't。 a good book to read for understanding the fundamentals of inventing very clear explanation of why the author would land on an investment decision why he wouldn't。 a good book to read for understanding the fundamentals of inventing 。。。more
Trung Nguyen Dang
，
Great book for people interested in investing in stocks。 It was written by Edgar Wachenheim， a fund manager with great track record （18-19% over a relatively long 24-25 years period）。 The book covers briefly the author's background， what made him motivated to manage money as well as why or how he has been developed independent thinking since young。 The book also covers the emotion side of investing in stocks and why certain psychology/emotional trait is more suited to investing。 Other than those Great book for people interested in investing in stocks。 It was written by Edgar Wachenheim， a fund manager with great track record （18-19% over a relatively long 24-25 years period）。 The book covers briefly the author's background， what made him motivated to manage money as well as why or how he has been developed independent thinking since young。 The book also covers the emotion side of investing in stocks and why certain psychology/emotional trait is more suited to investing。 Other than those， the book covers 12 case studies， or 12 investments by the author， 11 successful and one failed one （AIG）。I find the book is both part knowledge/wisdom sharing， part marketing for his fund。 That said， this is a much better way to market a fund than pitching to investors。 His style of investing is also slightly different from me。 He buys decent business when the market under-appreciates good development and sells when those good development is mostly priced in。 。。。more
Wong King peng stephen
，
Practical with a lot of examples rather than a value investment book full of theories。
Shyam Sundar R
，
This book helps the reader understand the thought process and methodology of the author and thus gives the reader a sense of work，research which is required to buy a stock。
Nitin
，
Excellent book。It tells real strategies than giving General wisdom。
ajay Kumar
，
it was a ok book to read。。good part doesnt take much time to read。。。but dont think you learn much from the book。 its just lots of successful examples and more of gut feel investment
Juli
，
Common Stocks and Common Sense is a book of case studies， through which the reader shares in the long-range experience of a successful value investor。 In it， Edward Wachenheim describes his approach， as well as his thought processes and experiences with investments throughout his career （case studies include IBM， Interstate Bakeries， U。S。 Home Corporation， Centex， Union Pacific， American International Group， Lowe's， Whirlpool， Boeing， Southwest Airlines， and Goldman Sachs）。He ends the book with Common Stocks and Common Sense is a book of case studies， through which the reader shares in the long-range experience of a successful value investor。 In it， Edward Wachenheim describes his approach， as well as his thought processes and experiences with investments throughout his career （case studies include IBM， Interstate Bakeries， U。S。 Home Corporation， Centex， Union Pacific， American International Group， Lowe's， Whirlpool， Boeing， Southwest Airlines， and Goldman Sachs）。He ends the book with a letter of advice to a younger investor， summarizing many of his key points， investment guidelines， and warnings。 That last chapter （A Letter to Jack Elgart） is a concise but thorough overview of Wachenheim's guiding principles， and contains quite a lot of great advice。 So much so， that I would recommend borrowing the book from a library， just to read that chapter alone。You can also read some of my takeaways from this book。 。。。more
Terry
，
A book written by investment manager Edgar Wachenheim， who has achieved admirable investment results （19% annualized return for 25 years）。 The book is a collection of case studies of how and why he bought and sold certain stocks。 Wachenheim’s investment philosophy is to buy undervalued stocks but with improving fundamentals in a growth industry。 He found ideas that have very attractive valuation， and then conduct research， uses his networks to talk to people who know the companies and then he ha A book written by investment manager Edgar Wachenheim， who has achieved admirable investment results （19% annualized return for 25 years）。 The book is a collection of case studies of how and why he bought and sold certain stocks。 Wachenheim’s investment philosophy is to buy undervalued stocks but with improving fundamentals in a growth industry。 He found ideas that have very attractive valuation， and then conduct research， uses his networks to talk to people who know the companies and then he has an investment horizon of at least 2 years。 Quite classic value investing。 The case studies are investing and honest。 Some ideas are discovered quite randomly， and some ideas are generated through research on other holdings。 He identified some industry trend that has not been widely recognized by the market and capitalize on short term pessimism of stocks。 If he could give some failed investment cases， it would be better。 I also don’t like he mentions sell side reports a lot， as if sell-side consensus are driving the misconception of stocks。 。。。more
Duy Nguyen
，
Better than expected。 Though the analyses at some cases were simplistic， they still represent the core theses behind each case。 Valuation work is also simplified， but in these cases the pitches were so fat that once he understood the qualitative aspect that differed from the market consensus， he was on to a great investment。 Bits and bites on how to access revenue growth of the comp were very useful。
Aditya
，
Excellent book with very good case studies。。Although authors approach to valuation is something I don't agree with but his research on each of 13 stocks discussed in this book is beyond excellence Excellent book with very good case studies。。Although authors approach to valuation is something I don't agree with but his research on each of 13 stocks discussed in this book is beyond excellence 。。。more
Daniel
，
Close to being a 5-star。 Unusually many good insights and practical advice for an investment book。 The book is written by an investor that has done the real thing with large amounts， so his words are not merely opinions like a lot of investment writing but has actually worked very well in practice。 Besides general investment process discussions there are 12 real case studies of investments Edgar made while running Greenhaven Associates。 While I'm sure they were carefully selected （11 out of 12 w Close to being a 5-star。 Unusually many good insights and practical advice for an investment book。 The book is written by an investor that has done the real thing with large amounts， so his words are not merely opinions like a lot of investment writing but has actually worked very well in practice。 Besides general investment process discussions there are 12 real case studies of investments Edgar made while running Greenhaven Associates。 While I'm sure they were carefully selected （11 out of 12 worked out very well）， the author does have a very stellar record of a 19% CAGR over 25 years and is currently managing ~$6 billion at Greenhaven Associates （also， Glenn Greenberg worked for him before starting Brave Warrior）。 I think including some more cases of failed investments would have made the book even better。 On the negative side， there was one quite appalling moment when the author called out two of his investors that left him during the 2000 IT boom by name and then went on to belittle them。 The author was trying to make a point about being independent and not following the herd， but this could obviously have been done in a much better way。 Praise by name， criticize by category。 All in all， there was a lot of good stuff in here。 If you are a professional equity investor， you will like it。 。。。more
Mikael
，
Good book with great case studies and the authors thought process in his stock picks。
Shakul Gupta
，
Good book
Harsh Thaker
，
The lessons of value investing through case studies are simply must read for any investor
Liam Polkinghorne
，
Engaging case study structure。 Value investors who purchase companies that are facing short-term market pessimism， but are strong enough to survive those periods， and there is a catalyst for a rebound。 Sell when the market becomes more optimistic or positive expectations are discounted in the price。
Mark
，
Simple strategy excellent results A good summary of a very seasoned and successful investor and supported by case studies of recent investments。 There is nothing new in his investing approach however like the title of the book suggests it is simple and reinforced by taking a medium term view vs The short-term view of the market。
Chris
，
I thoroughly enjoyed this book by this highly successful but also very low profile value fund manager。 There are eleven fairly brief case studies of investments across various sectors and the rationale behind the decision to invest in those particular companies at that time。 I would have preferred the chapters to be longer but even so this is a great book by someone who does this for a living。
Sumit
，
Good for light reading。 The author is a successful value investor and discusses some of his successful investments and the rationale behind them。 Without going too much into technical details and mathematical analysis， the author describes high level qualitative ideas and his reasoning for making said investments。 There has been only one case study of an unsuccessful investment， the book would have benefited had the author discussed some of his other mistakes， thus increasing the instructional v Good for light reading。 The author is a successful value investor and discusses some of his successful investments and the rationale behind them。 Without going too much into technical details and mathematical analysis， the author describes high level qualitative ideas and his reasoning for making said investments。 There has been only one case study of an unsuccessful investment， the book would have benefited had the author discussed some of his other mistakes， thus increasing the instructional value of the book。 。。。more
Manan
，
Nice use of case studies to explain investment philosophy。 Simple and highly informative book。
Gregory Blotnick
，
author loves the sound of his own voice
Mike
，
Fairly typical investment book from a little known， highly successful value investor。 The case studies are nice because it talks in specifics instead of generalities like many books。 It gives some insight into his thought process being applied。 However the book does contradict itself in places and the valuation discussions are highly simplistic in order to fit into a small book。
Sau
，