The Most Important Thing Illuminated – Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor

Howard Marks is chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based investment firm with seventy-five billion dollars under management. He holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School and an MBA in accounting and marketing from the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor.

Bruce C. Greenwald holds the Robert Heilbrunn Professorship of Finance and Asset Management at Columbia Business School and is the academic director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing. He is the coauthor of The Curse of the Mogul: What's Wrong with the World's Leading Media Companies.

Introduction
The Most Important Thing Is...
1. Second-Level Thinking
2. Understanding Market Efficiency (and Its Limitations)
3. Value
4. The Relationship Between Price and Value
5. Understanding Risk
6. Recognizing Risk
7. Controlling Risk
8. Being Attentive to Cycles
9. Awareness of the Pendulum
10. Combating Negative Influences
11. Contrarianism
12. Finding Bargains
13. Patient Opportunism
14. Knowing What You Don't Know
15. Having a Sense for Where We Stand
16. Appreciating the Role of Luck
17. Investing Defensively
18. Avoiding Pitfalls
19. Adding Value
20. Pulling It All Together