Which 5 investing books have been the most influential to you?

[merkhet]

These will only appeal to engineers, but are well worth the time...

 

Avinash Dixit, Barry Nalebuff: Game Theory.

Taleb: The Black Swan, Anti-Fragile

 

SD

 

Barry was a professor of mine. Incredibly bright guy in person. I'll have to check out that book.

[SharperDingaan]

We would also suggest

 

Porter: Competitive Strategy  .... already proposed by somebody

G. Kingsley-Ward: Letters of a businessman to his son. Letters of a businessman to his daughter.

 

SD

[PatientCheetah]

These will only appeal to engineers, but are well worth the time...

 

Avinash Dixit, Barry Nalebuff: Game Theory.

Taleb: The Black Swan, Anti-Fragile

 

SD

 

I remember taking grad level Game Theory class - the craziest integration that I have done in my entire life, not sure how useful it was at the time.

[giofranchi]

Porter: Competitive Strategy 

 

I agree. Try also “Competition Demystified” by Bruce Greenwald.

 

Gio

 

[SharperDingaan]

 

G. Kingsley-Ward: Letters of a businessman to his son.

SD

 

swq.es/.../Letters%20of%20a%20Businessman%20to%20his%20Son.pdf

[Spekulatius]

1. Andre Kostolany : Geldgeschichten (Kostolany did more to popularize stock investing than anybody else in Germany in the 80's)

2. N Taleb: Fooled by Randomness

3. Buffet/Munger: Berkshire shareholder letters and other writings (Their writings are better than the books about them,imo)

4. Greenblatt: Little book that beats the market

5.Kindleberger : Maniacs, Panic and crashes

 

[giofranchi]

5.Kindleberger : Maniacs, Panic and crashes

 

I agree. Try also "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay.

 

Gio

[JEast]

[*]Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, & other writings

[*]Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits

[*]Aggressive Conservative Investor

[*]Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

[*]Intelligent Investor

 

Bonus selection would be Against the Gods - The Remarkable Story of Risk.

 

Cheers

JEast

[yadayada]

hedgefund wizards by schwager. You get a great perspective on how the best hedgefund managers perceived and sometimes predicted the 08-09 crisis. Plus you get an interesting insight in how different type of traders and investors get an edge in the market.

[Dustin T]

My top 5 would have to be

 

1. Buffett Letters to shareholders (I'm convinced reading them has taught me more than my MBA)

2. The Warren Buffett way by Hagstrom (It was really my introduction to Buffett and value investing it did a great job of indoctrinating me, my first introduction to so many concepts)

3. One up on Wall Street by Lynch (Lot of good basic information by a truly great investor)

4. Poor Charlies Almanack (A lot of good concepts from mental models to human tendencies)

5. The Outsiders by Thorndike (introduced me to some great CEO's and their methods)

 

 

I tallied all the books listed thus far that have mulitiple endorsements along with my count. I think this makes a fantastic reading list and I'm going to get started on the ones I've neglected so far.

 

21 Graham Intelligent Investor

17 Buffett Letters to shareholders/Essays of Warren Buffet

14 Greenblatt You can be a stock market genius

10 Lynch One up on wall street

9 Klarman Margin of Safety

9 Greenblatt The little book that still beats markets

7 Graham Securities Analysis

7 Lowenstein Buffett "The Making of an American Capitalist

7 P. Fisher Common stocks uncommon profits

7 Marks The Most important thing

6 A. Schroeder Snowball

5 Munger Poor Charlies Almanack

5 N. Taleb Fooled by Randomness

3 Mandelbrot The misbehavior of Markets

3 Pabrai Dhando Investor

2 Gray & Carlisle Quantitative value investing

2 Greenwald Value Investing from Graham to Buffett

2 Hagstrom The Warren Buffet Way

2 Dreman Contrarian Strategies

2 N. Taleb Antifragility

2 Clason The Richest Man in Babylon

2 Lefevre Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

2 B. Franklin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

2 Charles Mackay Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

 

[writser]

Nice compilation! I read all of the 3+ endorsement books except for Schroeder and Lowenstein. All of them are highly recommended, as is 'Reminiscences of a stock operator'. A very entertaining read, not as much as a value investing book but as an eye-opener showing you how ruthless the market was (and is).

 

I just don't understand why people like the Marks writings. Undoubtedly he's a very good investor but the book reads like 'generic advice about value investing' by C. Obvious.  ;)

 

Next on the list: Snowball.

[Kraven]

Nice compilation! I read all of the 3+ endorsement books except for Schroeder and Lowenstein. All of them are highly recommended, as is 'Reminiscences of a stock operator'. A very entertaining read, not as much as a value investing book but as an eye-opener showing you how ruthless the market was (and is).

 

I just don't understand why people like the Marks writings. Undoubtedly he's a very good investor but the book reads like 'generic advice about value investing' by C. Obvious.  ;)

 

Next on the list: Snowball.

 

I would have to disagree about Marks.  I think his writing is incredibly sophisticated yet written in a clear, simple manner.  It isn't "how to" stuff or "5 Stocks to Buy Now!", but it's about the thought process that goes into investing.  Rather than explaining what I mean, I think everything can be summed up by this post on the always fantastic Oddball Stocks blog - http://www.oddballstocks.com/2014/05/the-language-of-investing.html

[Packer16]

I think Mark's book is right up there with Intelligent Investor and Security Analysis.  It talks about real world situations and really makes you think.  What other book (other than Security Analysis) has as many bright, talented and articulate commentators that were able to "amplify" Mark's message.

 

Packer

[writser]

As far as I remember the book (and all his letters) basically boil down to three key points: be patient, be humble, be aware of general market levels. Klarman brings the same points across (as well as a whole lot of extra information) in a much more concise book. Not to mention that I'm getting tired of all the 'pendulum swings'.

 

Nevertheless I'll give Marks another try given that all the gurus here immediately come to his defense!

[Hielko]

I think it also matters what books you have read earlier how great a book is. When you read the intelligent investor after 30+ other value investing books you probably think "pretty basic stuff, nothing new" but if its the first book you read on value investing it's great. Think that this is also the problem with the Marks book. It's a great book, but when you have read Klarman, Buffetts shareholder letters and tons of other stuff there is less worthwhile information than when it's one of your first value investing reads.

[Packer16]

My test is do I learn something new or something I can apply in a new way to a different circumstance.  Or something maybe not noticed in the first reading.  For example from the II, what is the percentage of outperforming the index did Ben Graham think that looking for undervalued stocks no longer became fruitful?  5% from page 34 of the II.

 

Packer

[writser]

Ok, so basically Kraven and Packer forced me to reread Marks' book :) . I have to admit it wasn't as bad as I made it sound. Basically it is a rehash of Buffet's wisdom, Nassim Taleb's theories, Graham's strategy and Klarman's patience. Probably a good starting kit for becoming a value investor, but I would recommend reading the predecessors instead. This book was a bit too philosophical and generic for my tastes. Nevertheless a well written summary.

 

Snowball is next. Looking forward to juicy menage-a-trois scenes.

[clayroad]

I'd like to know which books are preferred by those who hate reading. Buffettology and Greenblatt's first book are couple of my favourites, and obviously Buffett's letters. Thousand page masterpieces taking 500 pages to explain one idea as cryptically as possible are not.

 

[theasiareport]

I love Howard Marks, but his memos are a much better read in the context of the time they are written. Admittedly his book feels like a philosophical discussion of value investing, and its quite hard to read it on his own.

[peter1234]

If anyone is still looking for summer reading, "The Money Game" by Adam Smith is fun. Very insightful and full of tongue in cheek, similar to "Where are the customers' yachts?" by Schwed.

 

(Both are apparently some of Buffett's favorite books and his children recently talked about meeting the author when he met with Buffett while writing "Super Money").

 

:)

[boilermaker75]

If anyone is still looking for summer reading, "The Money Game" by Adam Smith is fun. Very insightful and full of tongue in cheek, similar to "Where are the customers' yachts?" by Schwed.

 

(Both are apparently some of Buffett's favorite books and his children recently talked about meeting the author when he met with Buffett while writing "Super Money").

 

:)

 

I first read it in 1969 or 1970. I didn't know enough to appreciate it back then. I'm looking at my paperback copy, which I purchased knew. The price on it is $1.25.

 

Edit: It was the first "investment" book I ever read.

[vertek]

1. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America

 

2. Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

 

3. Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor

 

4. You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits

 

5. Video Lectures of Andrew Weiss

 

Overall, having the proper philosophy and search strategy have been most important for me, and all 4 books provided that.  The examples of the last 2 books absolutely set my mind on fire.  Dhandho and More Than You Know were both contenders for #5, but to add something new to the thread, I would suggest the video lectures of Andrew Weiss at Columbia.  I absolutely love the way he thinks, and his results are strong.

 

- vertek

[deadspace]

1. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America

 

2. Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

 

3. Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor

 

4. You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits

 

5. Video Lectures of Andrew Weiss

 

Overall, having the proper philosophy and search strategy have been most important for me, and all 4 books provided that.  The examples of the last 2 books absolutely set my mind on fire.  Dhandho and More Than You Know were both contenders for #5, but to add something new to the thread, I would suggest the video lectures of Andrew Weiss at Columbia.  I absolutely love the way he thinks, and his results are strong.

 

Thanks. Where can I find the Andrew Weiss lectures ?

- vertek

[vertek]

In his 2007 lecture, he was asking the students to ballpark estimate the CDS prices for countries like Italy, Croatia, Qatar, etc.  Then he demonstrated that all the students guessed too high, since their current market prices were in the teen bps.  Insane timing.

 

2006

http://www7.gsb.columbia.edu/video/v/node/1307

 

2007

http://www7.gsb.columbia.edu/video/v/node/1299

 

2008

http://www7.gsb.columbia.edu/video/v/node/1300

 

- vertek

[Hawks]

1.Contrarian Investment Strategies  - love Dreman and "reversion to the mean"

2.Moneyball  - talk about value investing in baseball!

3.One up on Wall Street  -  read it years ago

4.The Most Important Thing

5.The Big Short  -  expose by Michael Lewis was insightful and love his writing style and wit