透视本杰明・格雷厄姆

本文作者认为：格雷厄姆是1900-1929 年投资思想的集大成者，将分散的 “价值研究”“内在价值”“详尽分析” 等观点整合为统一的理论体系，并非投资领域 “新概念” 的发明者。
（1）首次为 “投资” 给出明确、可量化的界定；
（2）打破 “按证券类型分类” 的传统编写体系，改为按分析流程分类（如固定价值投资、带有投机特征的高级证券），让投资成为可落地的流程，而非绑定特定证券；
（3）将 “内在价值”“安全边际”（重新定义，不再局限于债券分析）、“盈利收益率”、“会计调整还原真实盈利” 等前人观点整合，形成系统化的价值投资分析体；
（4）最后，其著作穿插大量最新案例，语言清晰幽默，成为实操性极强的 “价值研究指南”，区别于当时晦涩的专业教材。

透视本杰明・格雷厄姆

Benjamin Graham in Perspective

Dennis C. Butler, President Centre Street Cambridge Corporation

本文首次刊载于 2006 年夏季刊《金融史》杂志，该杂志由美国金融博物馆出版。This article first appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of Financial History magazine, published by the Museum of American Finance 1.

投资思想史是一个被忽视的研究领域，却具有不言而喻的价值：我们开展证券分析与投资的核心思路，如“成长型投资”与“价值型投资”，均植根于历史经验、实践与思维模式。相关概念与工具虽随时间推移不断演变，但背后的核心问题，以及投资者的能力素养与心理特质，始终未变。研究这一领域的前辈大师，能为当下的投资者带来认知视角与实践指引，正如研究政治史能为政治家提供借鉴一般。诚然，市场的历史走势及其对各类事件的反应，始终吸引着人们的探究兴趣；但对于绝大多数忙碌的、务实的投资者而言，行业从业者的投资思想发展脉络，却是一段鲜为人知的过往。The history of investment thinking is a neglected field, yet one of obvious value: our basic ways of approaching security analysis and investment, such as "growth" or "value," are rooted in historical experience, practice, and ways of thinking. Names and instrumentalities change over time, but underlying issues, as well as the abilities and psychological makeup of investors, do not. A study of the craft's past masters offers perspective and guidance to investors, much as political history does to statesmen. There is, to be sure, an ongoing fascination with the market's historical patterns and reactions to events. However, practitioners' thinking about investment is a story lost to the majority of busy, practically-oriented investors.

在所有投资领域的历史记载中，关于本杰明・格雷厄姆的认知或许是最模糊的。这位 20 世纪投资实践与投资思想领域的核心人物，被誉为 “金融分析之父”，其思想深刻影响了金融分析的方法论与行业体系，所著《证券分析》（1934 年）更被奉为 “华尔街圣经”。“内在价值”“安全边际” 等经典概念均归功于他，而 “价值投资派” 这一投资流派，更是将他尊为开山鼻祖。格雷厄姆还助力创立了多个行业专业组织，纽约证券分析师协会便是其中之一。然而，历史分析表明，格雷厄姆对投资理论的贡献，其原创性并非核心亮点，融合整合的特质才是关键。他的真正成就，在于将当时投资领域已存在的各类思想流派汇聚一堂、凝练核心，形成了系统化的理论体系。若要真正理解这一至关重要的贡献，客观审视其为行业留下的遗产，我们就必须回顾 20 世纪初投资理念的演变历程。Perhaps nowhere is the historical record less clearly understood than when it concerns Benjamin Graham, a central figure in 20th century investment practice and thought called the "father of financial analysis." Graham casts a long shadow over the field's methods and professional structure, and his Security Analysis (1934) is known as the "Bible of Wall Street." Terms such as "intrinsic value" and "margin of safety" are attributed to Graham. A school of investing — the "value approach" — views him as its patriarch. He helped to create professional organizations, including the New York Society of Security Analysts. Historical analysis reveals, however, that Graham's contributions to investment theory were less significant for their originality than for their synthesizing quality. His actual contribution was to bring together and focus currents in investment thought already in existence. To appreciate that vital contribution and place his legacy in perspective, we must examine how conceptions of investing changed during the early 1900s.

1920 年，格雷厄姆发布一份研究报告，提出：“一只普通股若为优质的投资标的，亦会是极具吸引力的投机品。” 彼时的格雷厄姆入职券商仅六年，便从一名杂役迅速晋升为分析师，他后来称自己的这一观点具有革命性意义，但事实上，持有类似看法的并非他一人。1917 年，艾伯特・阿特伍德在其著作《交易所与投机》中，就曾提出相似观点：“一只股票若能成为优质投资标的，其必然也是优质的投机品。” 这些表述在当时的市场从业者看来十分平常，却让现代读者感到费解，而这些观点在当年引发争议的原因，如今也同样难以理解。In 1920, Graham issued a report stating, "if a common stock is a good investment, it is also an attractive speculation." Although Graham (who in six years had risen from "gofer" to analyst at a brokerage firm) later claimed his assertion had been revolutionary, he was not alone. In 1917, Albert Atwood, in The Exchanges and Speculation, had similarly argued that "For a stock to be a good investment it must be a good speculation." The language of these statements, familiar to market participants of the day, is somewhat puzzling to the modern reader, as is the reason why such pronouncements were controversial.

在当时的传统观点中，证券交易的性质，由交易者的投资意图与专业认知决定。投资者的目标是获取稳定的收益，且本金需具备绝对安全性，而唯有债券能满足这一要求 —— 债券有法律契约与发行方资产作为保障。若交易者的目的是从市场价格波动中获利，即低买高卖或高卖低买，那么其身份就是投机者。普通股因价格波动剧烈、收益缺乏稳定性，成为投机者的主要交易标的，而证券交易所则是这些投机者的 “博弈场”。在人们的认知中，投资带有长期持有的属性，而投机则是一种机会主义行为。此外，那些缺乏经验、对发行公司一无所知，却贸然进行股票交易，且通常采用高杠杆操作的人，会被归为赌徒。The "traditional view" held that securities transactions could be distinguished by the intentions and knowledge of the "operator." An investor aimed for secure income, with absolute safety of principal. Only bonds, protected by legal covenants and issuer assets, met these requirements. If your interest was to benefit from a change in market value — to buy "for the rise" or sell "for the fall" — then you were a speculator. Common stocks, with volatile prices and no secure income, were the primary focus, and speculators battled on the "fields of speculation," — the stock exchanges. Investing had an aura of permanence, speculation, of opportunism. Finally, those who traded stocks recklessly, with little experience or knowledge of the issuing companies,and usually on thin margins, were gamblers.

彼时，人们对投资、投机、赌博的边界划分极为严苛。“普通股是否可作为投资标的？”这一如今听来略显陈旧的问题，在20世纪30年代前，一直是引发激烈争论的正当议题。另有一些当时的观点，在现代读者看来更是怪异甚至滑稽。例如，若投机者被迫将持仓持有至超出预期的时间，便会“无意间成为投资者”；反之，若投资者获得丰厚利润并兑现离场，也就“成了投机者”。当人们发现，包括银行家乔治・F・贝克在内的一众当时的金融大亨，其遗产中持有大量“投机品”时，无不感到震惊——而这些所谓的“投机品”，在如今看来，不过是另类投资、私募股权投资、风险投资标的，抑或只是普通的股票而已。These distinctions were taken seriously. "Are common stocks investments?" was a legitimate, if quaint-sounding, question subject to stormy debate into the 1930s. Other observations appear equally odd or comical to the modern reader. For example, a speculator forced to hold a position longer than anticipated "became an investor" inadvertently. Conversely, investors with substantial profits would sometimes realize them, thereby "becoming speculators." People were surprised at the number of "speculations" — what we would now refer to as alternative, private equity, and venture capital holdings, or simply stocks — held in the estates of some of the era's great financiers, including the banker George F. Baker.

投资与投机的边界划分，贯穿于当时的所有金融文献，甚至被纳入法律体系——不仅体现在“谨慎投资人规则”中，还被写入各州监管储蓄机构的相关法律。尽管如此，这一传统观点并非被所有人认同，投资与投机的界限，从始至终都模糊不清。在格雷厄姆踏入华尔街之时，“唯有固定收益工具可作为投资标的”“投资无需关注资产增值”这类传统理念，正日益受到质疑与挑战。The investment-speculation distinction permeates the financial literature of the time. It was codified in the legal system-in the "prudent man rule," and in state laws regulating savings institutions. Nevertheless, the traditional view was not universally held, and the line demarcating investments and speculations had always been fuzzy. The idea that one could only invest in fixed-income instruments or that investment was indifferent to appreciation came increasingly into question at the time Graham entered Wall Street.

当下观察印证了这一理念冲突。1911年，托马斯・康韦在《投资与投机》一书中提出，投资与投机的界定问题，不过是“无需过多关注的学术议题”。彼时，投机者与投资者都会密切关注价格趋势：投机者是典型的机会主义者，而投资者即便将自身定位为企业的长期合伙人，也会为股价上涨感到欣喜，且若涨幅达到一定水平，也会倾向于卖出兑现。1918年，爱德华・琼斯在其著作《投资》中指出，投资者必须把握长期的价格波动，权衡股价与“内在价值”，在证券收益达到峰值时果断卖出。1919年，大学教材《乔丹论投资》的作者戴维・乔丹写道，“证券的名称与其投资属性毫无关联”——这一观点后来也成为格雷厄姆著作中的核心要义。在他看来，普通股虽非“理想的投资标的”，但其投资属性取决于发行方的财务状况，而能否稳定支付股息是关键评判标准。即便是经典教材《债券投资原理》的作者劳伦斯・张伯伦也承认，投资与投机“密不可分”，资产增值也是投资者“理应主动追求的目标”，而为了“为投资争取最大程度的安全性”，投资者不得不进行一定的投机操作。Contemporary observations reveal this tension. In 1911 Thomas Conway claimed in Investment and Speculation that the investment-speculation issue was "an academic question to which we need give but little attention." Speculators and investors alike were alert to price trends. The speculator was an opportunist. The investor, although seeing himself as a long-term business partner, still was happy to see gains, and was inclined to sell if prices rose sufficiently. Edward Jones (Investment , 1918) said the investor must take advantage of long-term price swings, weighing price and "intrinsic value," and selling when securities were most profitable. David Jordan, author of Jordan on Investments (1919), a college text, wrote (employing a theme that figures prominently in Graham's book) that "the name of a security has little to do with its investment status." While not an "ideal investment," a stock's investment status lay in the issuer's financial status (the ability to pay its dividend was crucial). Even Lawrence Chamberlain, author of the standard text The Principles of Bond Investment, acknowledged that investment and speculation were "inseparably related" and that appreciation was "properly and studiously sought for in an investment." Investors were obliged to speculate to "obtain the greatest possible security for an investment."

1920年前后，一门全新的“投资职业”——投资咨询业开始走向成熟。投资顾问作为专业从业者，依托研究与实战经验为客户进行理性的资本配置，其立场独立，不受券商与银行所面临的利益冲突困扰。这些投资顾问的实践与主张，也折射出那个时代人们对投资本质的认知演变。Around 1920 a new "profession of investment," — investment counseling came into its own. Investment counselors were professionals dedicated to the intelligent deployment of client capital based on research and experience, independent and free of the conflicts plaguing brokers and bankers. The work of these counselors expresses that era's evolving thought about the nature of investing.

莫雷尔・盖恩斯1922年出版的《投资的艺术》，恰是从传统投资理念向新观念过渡的标志性著作。他提出了“建设性投资”的概念，认为这种投资既非纯粹的投机，也非单纯为获取收益而进行的资金投入；在确保收益稳定的前提下，实现本金增值也是合理的投资目标。1924年，亨利・斯特吉斯在《投资：一门全新的职业》中主张，投资在一定程度上必然包含投机成分，而投机（其定义与格雷厄姆后来对投资的界定高度相似）是“在对所有相关事实进行审慎研究与分析后开展的交易行为”。斯特吉斯认为，精心挑选的普通股，比盲目购买那些看似安全的债券“更具稳健性”，其带来的收益能够抵消通货膨胀带来的购买力损失。1928年，德怀特・罗斯在《投资管理的科学方法》中也探讨了购买力问题，他提出，若持有债券最终会导致购买力缩水，那么将稳健性与债券绑定、将投机性与股票挂钩的传统认知便站不住脚；投资的合理目标应是追求“总回报”，即同时实现收益获取与本金增值。Morrell Gaines's The Art of Investment (1922) offers an interesting transition from the traditional view. "Constructive investment," as he terms it, is neither speculation nor the commitment of funds solely for income. Enhancing principal value is a legitimate goal, as long as income is maintained securely. Henry Sturgis, in Investment, A New Profession (1924), argues that investment entails speculation to some degree, speculation being (in a phrase suggesting Graham's later definition of investment) "a transaction engaged in after careful study and consideration of all the relevant acts." Stocks, says Sturgis, were "less unconservative" than blindly buying supposedly safe bonds. Acquired carefully, stocks' profits offset the loss of purchasing power . Purchasing power was also an issue for Dwight Rose in A Scientific Approach To Investment Management (1928). He writes of the difficulty equating conservatism with bonds, and speculation with stocks, if the result is to erode purchasing power. "Total return" is the proper objective of investment: both income and appreciation of principal.

对于这批新兴的投资顾问而言，传统意义上以证券类型划分投资与投机的方式，正逐步瓦解。普通股不再理所当然地被归为投机品，反而成为投资者投资组合中合理的组成部分。值得注意的是，这些观点的提出，早于埃德加・劳伦斯・史密斯1925年出版的《普通股作为长期投资工具》与肯尼思・范斯特拉姆1926年出版的《投资购买力》——这两部著作提出，普通股因具备抗通胀属性，作为投资标的优于债券。遗憾的是，史密斯与范斯特拉姆的理论，为20世纪20年代后期陷入狂热的“新时代”投机浪潮提供了理论支撑，而这场浪潮的最终结局——1929年的股市大崩盘，也在一段时间内让“普通股可作为合法投资标的”的理念遭受重创。值得肯定的是，当时有少数新兴投资顾问曾对“新时代”的过度投机发出过警示。For the new investment advisers, the investment-speculation distinction as traditionally identified with types of securities was disintegrating. Stocks, no longer ipso facto speculations, were, instead, a legitimate part of an investor's portfolio. Interestingly, these views predated the publication of Edgar Lawrence Smith's Common Stocks As Long Term Investments (1925) and Kenneth Van Strum's Investing In Purchasing Power (1926), works implying that stocks were superior to bonds as investments, precisely because of stocks' inflation-protection qualities. Unfortunately, Smith and Van Strum provided a theoretical justification for the disastrous New Era of the late 1920s, whose ultimate outcome — the 1929 crash — for a time undermined the idea that stocks could be legitimate investments. To their credit, a few of the new investment counselors had warned of New Era excesses.

另有诸多迹象表明，投资与投机的二元对立格局正愈发难以维系。1928年，约翰・杜兰德在《发现证券低价标的的新方法》一书中，针对如今被称作“动量交易者”的群体写道，现代的“投机型投资者”也在寻找资本增值的机会。1930年，J.乔治・弗雷德里克在《普通股与普通投资者》中鼓励普通投资者将自己定位为“投资型投机者”，除了持有传统意义上仅适合普通收入人群的债券，也应配置优质普通股，共享国家经济发展的红利。同年，菲利普・卡雷特出版的《投机的艺术》，将投机的概念诠释到了极致——该书的核心并非探讨狭义的投机，而是阐述一种投资理念，而这一理念与四年后格雷厄姆所阐释的投资观高度契合。卡雷特提出，“投资者必须学会投机”，为了抵御通胀对财富的侵蚀，投资者“必须有意识地配置部分证券资产，以期获得收益”。他强调，投资的核心是研究企业本身，而非预测市场走势，并主张买入那些因市场情绪被低估、基于盈利能力具备投资价值的“冷门股票”。他还留下了一句预示格雷厄姆投资理念的话：“投机的成功之路，在于对价值的研究。”There were other indications that the investment-speculation dichotomy was becoming increasingly strained. John Durand, addressing the equivalent of today's "momentum" traders, writes, in The New Technique of Uncovering Security Bargains of 1928, of the modern "spec-investor" looking for capital appreciation opportunities. Common Stocks and the Average Man (1930) by J. George Frederick encourages the average man to "regard himself as an investment-speculator," owning some bonds — traditionally the only appropriate investments for people of limited means — as well as "good common stocks" in order to share in the nation's growth. Philip Carret's The Art of Speculation (1930) carries the concept of speculation as far as it can go; for his subject is not really speculation, but investment in the same sense that Graham would articulate it four years later. "The investor must speculate," says Carret. To protect wealth from inflation, the investor "must consciously purchase a portion of security holdings with an expectation of profit." Carret emphasizes the study of businesses, not market forecasts, and advocates purchasing "out of favor" stocks that are undervalued based on their earning power. In a phrase presaging Graham: "The road to success in speculation is the study of values."

这些著作中贯穿着一个共同的核心——对“价值”的重视。正如盖恩斯所言：“从本质上讲，投资者只需弄清两件事——所持证券的价值，以及其当前的市场价格。”他还写下了一句暗含格雷厄姆后来“市场先生”寓言的话：“投资者必须养成一种习惯，以独立审视的立场判断股价，不受市场狂热与悲观情绪的左右。”在斯特吉斯看来，投资是一门基于常识的学问，“建立在对证券价值构成的认知之上”。罗斯发现，当普通股的盈利收益率（盈利与股价的比率）高于债券收益率时，其投资价值便优于债券——这一估值指标也被格雷厄姆频繁运用。他还指出，利润再投资让普通股具备长期投资优势，但同时也以一种极具格雷厄姆风格的谨慎提醒道，只有当“大部分超额利润未被过度推高的市值所消化”时，买入普通股才是值得放心的。A common thread in these writings is a stress on "value." As Gaines noted: "In the abstract, the investor needs to know only two things — the value of his security and the price at which it is selling." Likewise, in a line hinting at Graham's later "Mr. Market" parable: "The habit must be formed of sitting as a court of independent review on prices, aloof from the enthusiasms and pessimisms of the market place itself." For Sturgis, investing was a matter of common sense, "based on a knowledge of what constitutes security values." Rose observed that stocks had an advantage over bonds when purchased at an earnings yield (the ratio of earnings to stock price) exceeding bond yields — a value yardstick often employed by Graham. The reinvestment of earnings gave stocks a long-term advantage, but in a Graham-like note of caution Rose says stocks could be purchased with confidence "so long as the major part of excess earnings is not discounted in a greatly inflated market value."

由此可见，投资“价值”的理念，早在《证券分析》出版前便已存在。事实上，“证券具有内在价值”这一观点，在数百年的金融文献中均有提及，且已被融入投资实践。1720年前后，丹尼尔・笛福就曾撰文警示，以高于“内在价值”的价格买入证券存在巨大风险——而他本人也曾深陷南海泡沫危机。1873年，股票经纪人、记者威廉・福勒在《华尔街的内部生活》中，多次提及股票的内在价值，以及价值对于科尼利厄斯・范德比尔特等投资大佬的重要性。19世纪末的知名银行家亨利・克卢斯，也在其1888年出版的《华尔街二十八年》中，写到了以低于内在价值的价格买入股票的投资策略。同样，“安全边际”也是当时金融领域的常用词汇，只是彼时该词多用于债券分析，指发行方的盈利对利息支出的覆盖能力（对于“投资级股票”，则指盈利对股息的覆盖能力），这与格雷厄姆对该词的运用方式并不相同。Thus, the notion of investment "value" predated Security Analysis. Indeed, the idea that securities had "intrinsic value" had appeared in financial literature for centuries and was incorporated into investment practice. Around 1720, Daniel Defoe wrote of the hazardous purchase of securities at prices exceeding "intrinsik values" (Defoe had been caught up in the South Sea Bubble). Stockbroker and journalist William Fowler, in Inside Life In Wall Street (1873), frequently refers to a stock's intrinsic value and the significance of value to operators such as Cornelius Vanderbilt. Henry Clews, a prominent banker of the late 1800s, wrote of buying stocks below their intrinsic values in his Twenty-Eight Years In Wall Street (1888). Likewise, "margin of safety" was a well-worn phrase used most often in bond analysis to refer to an issuer's coverage of interest expense by earnings (or of dividends in the case of "investment grade stocks"), although this is not how Graham uses it.

价值研究的内核是原则与方法的落地。对“价值的研究”，本质上意味着一套可落地的原则与分析流程。早在1900年前后，业内便首次尝试梳理投资的核心原则；而至格雷厄姆时代，证券分析已成为一门愈发重要、体系日趋完善的学科。投资理念的演变，与美国商业格局的变革同频共振：20世纪初，工业企业取代铁路公司，成为市场主导型商业主体，这些规模庞大的企业不仅融资能力与管理水平持续提升，也获得了更广泛的政治认可。工业股更是取代铁路证券，成为证券交易所里“投机的主要标的”。为满足这类企业日益增长的融资需求，华尔街机构顺势而为，市场对能分析越来越多发行主体的专业分析师需求激增。纽约大学、沃顿商学院、哥伦比亚大学等高校的商学院顺势开设相关课程，为市场输送专业人才，工业证券分析类教材也相继问世：1921年，克林顿・科尔弗的《工业证券分析方法》、沃尔特・拉格奎斯特的《投资分析》先后出版；1925年，拉尔夫・巴杰的《工业证券估值》面世；1930年，卡尔・克拉夫特与路易斯・斯塔克韦瑟合著的《工业证券分析》也正式发行。而劳伦斯・张伯伦1911年初版的经典债券研究著作、戴维・乔丹1919年出版的《乔丹论投资》等经典教材，也历经多次再版。彼时的分析研究仍以债券为核心，尤其是早期的著作，更是将债券分析作为重点。而这些著作中蕴含的诸多分析思路，以及对“审慎分析”“分析师有责任通过会计调整还原企业真实盈利能力”的强调，后来均被格雷厄姆融入《证券分析》一书。The "study of values" implies principles and procedures. The first attempts to articulate fundamental investment principles began around 1900, and by Graham's time, security analysis was playing an increasingly important and organized role. The evolution of investment thinking paralleled a transformation in American business. The early 1900s saw industrial corporations replace railroads as the dominant business entities. Large corporations, increasingly better financed and managed, gained greater political acceptance. Industrial stocks had become the "principal media of speculation" on the stock exchanges, taking over that role from railroad securities. With the growing capital needs of these organizations, Wall Street firms rose to the challenge. In demand were specialists trained to analyze the expanding number of issuers. Schools of business, such as those at New York University, Wharton, and Columbia, provided this training. Textbooks on industrial security analysis began to appear. Clinton Collver's How To Analyze Industrial Securities was published in 1921; Walter Lagerquist's Investment Analysis, the same year; Ralph Badger's Valuation of Industrial Securities, 1925; and Carl Kraft and Louis Starkweather's Analysis of Industrial Securities, 1930. Other texts, such as Chamberlain's standard work on bonds, first published in 1911, went through several editions, as did Jordan's Jordan on Investments of 1919. The emphasis was on bond analysis — especially in the earlier volumes. Many analytical themes from these volumes, as well as an emphasis on careful analysis and the analyst's duty to make the accounting adjustments needed to reveal true earning power, later made their way into Graham's Security Analysis.

有了上述背景铺垫，现代读者便能更好地理解1934年版《证券分析》的开篇章节——包括格雷厄姆对投资与投机的界定、传统投资理念的瓦解，以及1929年大崩盘对投资思想的冲击。接下来我们需要探讨的是，为何这本著作能被奉为开天辟地的经典。事实上，并无证据表明格雷厄姆曾刻意创立一套“价值投资法”（这一术语多年后才出现在他的著作中），毕竟这种证券分析思路在当时并非全新概念；《证券分析》也并未让其主笔格雷厄姆成为“金融分析之父”，因为彼时金融分析领域已发展得颇为成熟。真正让《证券分析》在投资思想史上占据重要地位的，是书中对“投资”给出的明确界定：“投资，是经过详尽分析，能够承诺本金的安全并获得令人满意回报的交易行为。未满足上述条件的交易，皆为投机。”The preceding discussion should make the opening chapters of the 1934 text — encompassing Graham's remarks on investment and speculation, the breakdown of the traditional view, and the impact of the Great Crash on investment thinking — more understandable to the modern reader. Remaining to be considered is why the book is considered groundbreaking. There is, for example, no indication that Graham sought to invent a "value approach" (the term does not appear in his writings until years later): that way of examining securities was not new. Nor did Security Analysis make its chief author the "father of financial analysis" — an already flourishing field. Instead, Security Analysis occupies an important place in the history of investment thought due to its "proposed definition of investment," namely: "An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and a satisfactory return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative.

这一定义的三大核心要素——“详尽分析”“本金安全”“令人满意的回报”，不仅是当时业内的共识，更是传统投资理念的核心内涵；同时也是证券选择中“价值派”的核心准则，其初衷便是规避企业“被过度推高的市值”。格雷厄姆的这一定义，实则是对前20年投资思想发展趋势的高度总结，是在1929年股市崩盘的惨痛教训后，将传统投资理念与新兴投资专业人士的思想融合凝练的成果。这一定义的核心意义，在于让投资成为一套可落地、可量化的操作流程，而非简单与某类特定证券绑定。也正因如此，《证券分析》并未沿袭当时金融教材按证券类型（如“公司债券”“市政债券”等）划分的编写体系，而是根据具体案例适配对应的分析流程，将内容分为“固定价值投资”“带有投机特征的高级证券”等板块。投资的本质，从此聚焦于证券对某一经济主体实际享有的权益或求偿权：只要遵循估值、分散投资等分析流程与风控原则，普通股也能成为投资标的；而若盲目买入、缺乏合理分析，即便是债券，也可能沦为投机品，甚至是一场豪赌。This definition's basic elements — "thorough analysis," "safety of principal," and a "satisfactory return" — were not only familiar, but lay at the heart of the traditional view. They were also essential to advocates of "value" in security selection — to avoid "greatly inflated" market values. Graham's definition is, indeed, a culmination of the trends in investment thought during the previous 20 years, and a synthesis of the traditional view and the ideas of the new investment professionals, forged after the 1929 debacle. The effect was to operationalize investing, making it a matter of procedure and measurement — and consequently no longer identified with any particular type of security. Hence, Security Analysis was not organized according to the system of security types customary in finance texts — "corporation loan," "civil loan," and so on — but according to the analytical procedure appropriate in any given case: for example, "fixed-value investments" or "senior securities with speculative features." Investment dealt with the security's actual interest in, or claim upon, an economic entity. Stocks were investments if selected according to analytical procedures and safeguards relating to valuation and diversification. A bond could be a speculation — even a gamble — if purchased blindly, without proper analysis.

但仅凭这些理论层面的创见，尚不足以解释格雷厄姆的著作为何能被广泛接受、经久不衰并产生深远影响。华尔街的从业者向来注重实际、追求实效，因此我们需要从更现实的角度寻找答案。格雷厄姆过往的从业经历，或许是《证券分析》获得成功的关键。在成为这本“华尔街圣经”的作者前，他已是拥有20年经验的顶尖投资实践者，早已在业内树立起的声誉，为这本书赋予了天然的可信度。同时，格雷厄姆也是一位极具感染力的作者：相较于同时代的其他教材，他的著作尤为出彩，书中穿插着大量案例，其中不少是成书时的最新案例；文字表达清晰流畅、通俗易懂，甚至带有一丝幽默，这在当时的专业著作中极为罕见。可以说，这本书是一本实操性极强的“指南手册”，用具体的表述阐释了何为“价值的研究”，其对渴望洞悉华尔街投资秘诀的读者产生强大吸引力，也就不足为奇了。These philosophical matters do not account for the acceptance, popularity, and enduring influence of Graham's work. Denizens of Wall Street are of a more practical and materialistic bent, so we must look for more worldly explanations. Graham's prior experience probably had much to do with the success of Security Analysis. He had been a brilliant practitioner for two decades prior to becoming the author of Wall Street's "bible." An established reputation brought credibility. He was an engaging writer. For readers of other texts of that period, his book stands out. It is laced with examples — some current at the time of publication. It is written with a clarity and ease of style, even humor, seldom found in such works. The text was a practical "how to" manual that explained the "study of values" in concrete terms. Its appeal to those seeking to divine the secrets of Wall Street was understandable.

格雷厄姆同时还是一位杰出的教师。1934年时，他已是哥伦比亚商学院的资深教授，深受华尔街从业者的推崇。他开设的课程，既为学生搭建了扎实的理论框架，也提供了实践应用的机会（不少学生听课的初衷，便是为获取投资思路）。他培养了一批忠实的追随者，而这些人也将他的投资方法传承至今——这便是对这位大师最长久的致敬。正是这些更贴合实际的因素，让格雷厄姆及其著作多年来始终备受关注；而那些更偏理论的探讨，包括他在投资与投机之争这场传统论战中的角色，如今大多已被淡忘。Graham was also an outstanding teacher. By 1934 he was well established at the Columbia Business School and was popular among Wall Streeters. His course offered a theoretical foundation and also an opportunity for practical application (students often attended just to get investment ideas). He developed a following that would carry his methods forward to the present day-an ongoing tribute to the master. These more practical considerations are what has really attracted attention to Graham and his writings over the years. More esoteric matters, including his role in the old debate over investment and speculation, are largely forgotten.

在《聪明的投资者》一书中，格雷厄姆曾为投资与投机的界限日渐模糊而深感惋惜。他认为，传统理念以动机和风险划分投资与投机，虽简单直白，却能让人对证券投资形成清晰的认知：当投资者专注于买入债券、投机者扎堆交易股票时，即便是不愿深度思考的市场参与者，也能明确自己的定位。然而，当投资的界定标准从证券类型转变为操作流程后，所有人都站在了同一起跑线，使用着相同的投资工具，投资与投机的界限也变得愈发模糊，而思维上的懈怠，也会招致更大的损失。格雷厄姆就此发出警示：若投资者对自身的交易行为缺乏清晰认知，会引发巨大的投资风险，甚至会损害华尔街的信誉与资本市场的根基。颇具讽刺意味的是，传统投资术语的日渐消亡，很可能正是格雷厄姆留下的遗产之一：他试图为投资给出更清晰定义的努力，反而让一种观念深入人心——只要持有几股股票，便是一名投资者，即便这些股票最初是因投机目的买入的。In The Intelligent Investor, Graham laments the loss of the investment-speculation distinction, arguing that its simple conceptions of motivation and risk facilitated clear thinking about securities. When investors bought bonds and speculators traded stocks, even mentally lazy "operators" knew where they stood. However, when investment became a matter of procedures instead of titles, everyone played with the same toys. The distinctions were less obvious, and the costs of laziness greater. Graham warned of the risks resulting from people not clearly understanding what they are doing, and of the danger to Wall Street's credibility and capital. Ironically, the fading away of the old investment terminology may very well be one of Graham's own legacies: his endeavor to more clearly define investment has helped to foster the belief that mere ownership of a few shares of stock makes one an investor — even when they were acquired as a speculation.