The most important thing
by Howard Marks · first published 2011
55% recommend45% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Investing book built around a set of core principles on risk, market cycles and value, often named alongside Graham; suited to investors who want a framework for thinking about markets rather than specific tactics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This book explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways.
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…Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau Anything Your Want by Derek Sivers The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar Are You a Stock or a Bond? by Moshe Milevsky The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2013” ↗…- for understanding food and nutrition Sapiens - for understanding what it means to be human The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant - for understanding groups of humans (civilization) The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor by Howard Marks - for understanding investing Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin To Munger by Peter Bevelin - for understanding mental models in general
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗…Slow" by Daniel Khaneman -"The Undoing Project" by Michael Lewis -"Fooled by Randomness" and "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb -"Pre-suasion" by Cialdini -"The Moral Animal" by Robert Wright -"The Most Important Thing" by Howard Marks -"Everybody Lies" by Seth Stevens-Davidowitz -"How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams -The "Freakonomics" Trilogy
on “How Booking.com manipulates users” ↗…Swensen. Asset allocation, and the perils of mutual funds...leading endowment investor of our time (Yale) gives his advice for individuals https://www.amazon.com/Unconventional-Success-Fundamental-Ap... The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor by Howard Marks. Lessons in investing... at any time, any one of them can be 'the most important thing' and so they all are jointly and severally 'the most…
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗…The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham 2) Security Analysis - Benjamin Graham 3) Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits - Philip Fisher 4) The Little Book of Common Sense Investing - John Bogle 5) The Most Important Thing - Howard Marks Economics: 1) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith 2) Where Are the Customers' Yachts: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street - Fred Schwed 3) stuff…
on “Buffett FAQ” ↗The Intelligent Investor and Howard Marks The Most Important Thing
on “Ask HN: Introductory Books on the Stock Market?” ↗The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks Ghost Wars by Steve Coll Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer
on “Ask HN: What are you reading this weekend?” ↗After a short intro, the first sentence is: "In his exceptional book, The Most Important Thing, Howard Marks explains the concept of second-order thinking, which he calls second-level thinking." The book is linked to Amazon and it looks like it is an Amazon Affiliate link.
on “Second-Order Thinking” ↗This is probably because Howard Marks popularized the idea under that name in "The Most Important Thing". He looks like FS's main source in the detail piece (https://www.fs.blog/2016/04/second-level-thinking/). I think he does mean it as an analogy to the math concept, like ~x being first order and ~x^2…
on “General Thinking Tools: Mental Models to Solve Difficult Problems” ↗Howard Marks’ book The Most Important Thing has sold three-quarters of a million copies. I don’t know what the list of all-time best-selling investment books looks like, but that is up there. It's always the same pattern with this blog: find a…
on “Selfish Writing” ↗…think through problems to the second, third, and nth order—or what we will call second-order thinking for short—is a powerful thinking tool that not only solves problems but avoids them. In his book, The Most Important Thing, Howard Marks explains the concept of second-order thinking, which he calls second-level thinking: "First-level thinking is simplistic and superficial, and just about everyone can do it (a bad sign for…
on “Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use to Outperform” ↗