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what did benjamin graham mean by earnings stability in the intelligent investor?
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yes - this is exactly what it means.  no losses (negative earnings).   with today's accounting methods, you might want to determine whether you view earnings including or excluding extraordinary items.   for example, a company might take a once-off charge to its earnings when revising the value of a major asset.  this would show in the "including" but not in the "excluding" figure.   the book actually has a nice discussion in chapter 12 "things to consider about per-share earnings" which considers several additional variables to consider here too. note that this earnings metric is different from "stock selection for the defensive investor" which requires 10 years. ps - my edition (4th edition hardback) doesn't have 386 pages so your reference isn't correct for that edition.  i found it on page 209 in chapter 15 "stock selection for the enterprising investor".
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