Comments on: Book Review: Margin of Safety

By: xyz

xyz — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:55:16 +0000

Try this from google search:

http://toddsullivan.duedee.com/2008/9/1/Seth-Klarmans-%22Margin-of-Safety%22/39067/

(Please delete if inappropriate. Tx)

By: jaycey

jaycey — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:33:01 +0000

I had a copy I bought used for two bucks that had been sitting on my shelf for years. When I saw an article about the author that noted they were selling for high prices I thought “OMG I’ve got one of those!” Percentage wise, it’s my best investment to date, but I sold it too cheap, “only” $450. It’s good, but not *that* good.

By: Skorgu

Skorgu — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:38:18 +0000

I’ll mention without naming locations that there is a scanned version of this book on various bittorrent sites.

By: PlanMaestro

PlanMaestro — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:45:05 +0000

It’s true, it is basic. However one tip buried inside saved me a lot of money. Do not buy financials and retail in a period of excesses. They usually do not have good economics and tend to get overextended.

By: The Unknown Professor

The Unknown Professor — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:55:11 +0000

There are PDF copies of Margin of Safety floating around on the internet (I’ve seen at least one). It’s a great (albeit very basic) introduction to Fundamentals-based Value Investing.

As for the 13-F, I don’t believe it shows non-equity securities like Credit Default Swaps. I believe Baupost took some fairly sizable long positions in those on some housing stocks a couple of years back. They paid off pretty well. Klarman and his crew are definitely a bunch of smart cookies.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:18:19 +0000

Great book. Klarman puts forth one of the best arguments for absolute returns that I have seen. It is a smart book and one worth reading even if you aren’t a strict value investor.