special situation investing（特殊情况的投资）.docVIP

Special Situation Investing Security Analysis, 1951 edition (Pages 729 – 734) by Benjamin Graham Special situations are the happy hunting grounds for the simon-pure analyst who prefers to deal with the future in terms of specific, measurable developments rather than general anticipations. The article below was published in the fourth quarter 1946 issue of the Analyst’s Journal. The period 1939-1942 was a heyday for operators in special situations and undervalued securities. During these years the trend was unfavorable to those owning standard issues, and the brokerage business was on the quiet side. By contrast, many bargain industrial stocks scored substantial advances—especially since the early war years brought proportionately greater business improvement to the secondary companies than to the leaders. In addition, quite a number of railroad and utility reorganizations were taking shape, and developing good profits for those who had bought their issues at unpopular times and consequently at basement prices. By 1942 many in Wall Street had come to believe that the only real and dependable income was to be made in special situations. As usually happens, this generalization proved wide of the mark. In the ensuing four years there have been good profits in almost everything, and the spectacular returns have lately been shown in essentially speculative, as distinct from “special,” operations. But perhaps enough interest remains in the latter type of activity to warrant an article on the subject. The Meaning of Special Situations First, just what is meant by a “special situation”? Convention has not jelled sufficiently to permit a clear-cut and final definition. In the broader sense, a special situation is one in which a particular development is counted upon to yield a satisfactory profit in the security even though the general market does not advance. In the narrow sense, you do not have a real “special situation” unless the particular