Classics II: Another Investor's Anthology - Charles D. Ellis and James R. Vertin

[John Hjorth]

The book arrived on Monday July 8^th 2025 :

 

 

The book arrived in new or absolutely virgin condition, I can't see if it's a reprint or anything, original release date January 1^st 1991, simply looks and feels like it has been well stored and totally untoched there for 34 years. 

 

Link to CofB&F topic about the first edition of the book : Classics: An Investor's Anthology - Charles D. Ellis and James R. Vertin .                                         .

 

The book consists of a colllection of unique and important documents in the investment litterture, organized in the following overall sections and number of carefully selected for the book at a total of 626 pages, so perfect to inhail and digest in several tiny pieces

 

1. History and Perspective, 20 articles,

 

• The birth of a Trust Department, - Longstreet Hinton, John M. Meyer Jr., and Thomass Rodd, - p. 2
• Harvad College versus Amory, - Samual Putnam, - p. 10
• How Fiat Money Inflation Came to France, - Andrew Dickson White, - p. 19
• American Louisiana Stock, - p.29
• A Treatise on Investments, - Robert Arthur Ward,  - p. 30
• Investments for the Working Classes, -  W. R. Greg, - p. 37
• How to Invest and Speculate Safely in Railway Shares, - A Successful Operator, - p. 42
• The Shrewdest Levaraged Buyout in History, - Leonard Mosley, - p. 46
• The Great Opportunity, - Alfred P. Sloan,Jr., - p.62
• Everybody Ought to Be Rich, - Samuel Crowther, - p.75
• Artemisa Mines Finance Corp., - C. W. Fisk, - p. 79
• The Big Bull Market and the Crash, - Frederick Lewis Allen, - p. 85
• Catastrofe, - John Brooks, - p. 101
• U.S. Steel Announces Sweeping Modernization Scheme, - Benjamin Graham, p. 121
• An Informal History of Interest Rates, - Sidney Homer, - p. 128
• The Bond Business, circa 1910, - Sidney Homer, - p. 139
• Investing for the Future of IBM, - Thomas J. Watson, Sr, - p. 141
• The Product Nobody Wanted, - Joseph C. Wilson, - p. 143
• The Day They Red-Dogged Motorola, - ‘Adam Smith’, - p. 150
• How the Terrible Two-Tier Market Came to Wall Street, - Carol J. Loomis, - p. 156

 

2. Concepts and Philosophy, 15 articles,

 

 

• A Letter to a Friend, - Authur Ashley Sykes, - p. 166
• The Nature of The Game, - Hal Arbit, - p. 169
• On Speculating Successfully, - Philip L. Carret, - p. 175
• The preservation of Investment Value, - Edward Sherwood Mead and Julius Grodinsky, - p. 179
• Investment Experiences, - Henry G. Davis, - p. 185
• Human Foibles, - George Ross Goobey, - p. 192
• Barnum’s Rules for Success in Business, - Phinaeus T. Barnum, - p.194
• Mistakes of the First Twenty-Five Years (A condensed version), - Warren E. Buffett, -198
• The Policies that Guide Us, - Charles E. Merrill and E. A. Pierce, - p. 203
• The Private banker’s Code, - J. P. Morgan, Jr., - p.212
• To Get Performance You have to be Organized for It, - Charles D. Ellis, CFA, - p.213
• Organizing for Creativity, - Arthur Zeikel, - p. 221
• Stock Market Primer, - Claude N. Rosenberg, Jr., - p. 229
• Reflections on Market Inefficiency, - Dean LeBaron, CFA, - p. 235
• High Finance or the Point of Vanishing Interest, - C. Northcote Parkinson, - p. 240

 

3. Investment Policy, 18 articles,

 

• Master Honma’s Strategy of Commodities Speculation, - Sokyu Honma, - p. 248
• Long-Term Investing, - Jack L. Treynor, - p.250
• The Value of Patience, - James H. Gipson, - p. 254
• A New Paradigm for Portfolio Risk, - Robert H. Jeffrey, - p. 257
• Timing Considerations in Investment Policy, Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd, - p. 265
• Futility of Stock Market Guessing, - David L. Babson, - p. 268
• Likely Gains from Market Timing, - William Sharpe, - p. 270
• Mr. Market, Investment Success ands You, - Warren E. Buffet, - p. 273
• Four cornerstones of a New Investment Policy, - James H. Lorie, p. 276
• The Yale Plan, - Laurence G. Tighe, - p. 282
• The Case for Property Investment by Pension Funds, - George Ross Goobey, - p. 287
• Policy in Portfolio Management, - Charles D. Ellis, CFA, - p. 295
• Goal-Oriented Bond Portfolio Management, - Martin Leibowitz, - p. 303
• How true Are the Tried Principles?, - Peter L. Bernstein, p. 311
• Telling The “Prospective Returns” Story, - Keith P. Ambachtsheer, p. 315
• Historical Performance in Manager Selection, - Edgar W. Barksdale and William L. Green, - p. 321
• The Trustees’ Metting – A City Daydream,  - J. M. Brew, - p. 325
• Seven Rules for Investors, - Nigel Lawson, - p. 332

 

Analysis, 19 articles,

Markets and Exchanges, 16 articles,

Opinion and Commentary, 16. articles.

---o0o---

Contributors

Sources

Edited July 20, 2025 by John Hjorth

[John Hjorth]

Added specification of articles in the History and Perspective section.

[dealraker]

48 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

Added specification of articles in the History and Perspective section.

I got Classics II on 6/22/96.  I've re-read a few of the chapters since then - a delightful book.  

Edited July 15, 2025 by dealraker

[John Hjorth]

11 minutes ago, dealraker said:

I got Classics II on 6/22/96.  I've re-read a few of the chapters since then - a delightful book.  

 

Thank you for sharing, Charlie [ @dealraker ],

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

Personally, I can't really explain what it is, but I feel that I personally need some rear mirror perspective on things, being a relative newbie compared to you, with my by now 10 - 15 years experience in this non-zero sum game, filled with opportunities - and pitfalls -, with a basically raging bull market over the whole time strech of mine , with a few blips.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

I hope all is well in your end health wise, and that life and Angela is good to you! [Summer is for strawberries! ]

[John Hjorth]

Added specification of articles in the Concepts and History section.

[John Hjorth]

Added specification of articles in the Investment Policy section.