<p>As an avid reader who has taken a interest in investing I have begun reading up on it. I thought it would be interesting to start a thread about good investing books or invested related books that have proved helpful.</p>
<p>Currently I am reading The Snowball (Bio of Buffet) which is very interesting though it obiviously is not an exclusive investing book.</p>
<p>I have also read The Warren Buffet Way which explains some of his principles. </p>
<p>Next I want to read The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham (according to The Snowball is the simpler version of the famed Security Analysis)</p>
<p>Also Jim Cramer is a fasinating watch (Mad Money 6pm EST CNBC) for the average investor and he has published a number of books. Anyone read them?</p>
<p>The Intelligent Investor is a great read. I dislike Cramer but that’s just a personal choice. Some other good books to read are Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Phillip A. Fisher, One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch, and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (which doesn’t really teach a ton but has some practical advice and is an interesting read).</p>
<p>If you are interested in the deal-making side of banking (legit in my opinion) and not trading (meh in my opinion) then i would recommend: </p>
<p>Barbarians at the Gate
Too Big to Fail
Den of Thieves
The Predator’s Ball</p>
<p>Im hoping to start The Intelligent Investor next week looking forward to it.
Ill try to look into some of those others.</p>
<p>elbeedubalum just judging those books by there titles they seem to be very critical of banking (not unjustly) similar to 13 Bankers maybe?</p>
<p>They tend to offer the most uncensored view into wall street in my opinion. Not like I’ve ever worked there, however. I found them fascinating. If you want to see how the big deals get closed, the books i listed are going to offer much more than how-to “investing” books. </p>
<p>“bankers” dont invest, mostly they advise on capital raises, acquisitions, etc.</p>
<p>If you are interested in investing thats great, but i would advise setting up your own investing account instead of reading these books. Most of them are garbage.</p>
<p>Most of the great “stock pickers” are products of simple statistics and not of any type of skill. Let me explain: If you have a room of 10000 people and ask them all to try to flip a coin so it lands heads-up, the first time this happens about 5000 people will do so.</p>
<p>Now ignore the other 5000 who got tails (clearly they are not good coin-flippers). Do another round (wow! only 2500 people can get a heads twice in a row!) and again (1250!) and again: 625.<br>
~312
~156
~78
~39
~20
~10
~5</p>
<p>And you are left with 5 people who are incredibly talented coin-flippers who (on command) can get a heads 11 times in a row. Try this experiment with all the “stock-pickers” out there and you will see that there MUST be HUNDREDS of people who can flip a coin so it lands heads-up reliably, and all of whom ll are eager to sell you books about the best coin-flipping strategy.</p>
<p>I agree there are plenty of “coin flipping” books based on some people just trying to make a few dollars. Yet I would not compare Ben Graham or Phillip Fisher to “coin flippers” these people theorys have proven to be a bit better then “coin flipping” and Warren Buffet has written at length about how the Efficent Market Theory is wrong and that you are not better off just picking random stocks and hoping to hit big.</p>
<p>But your right investing books are not key to investment banking but I did figure those that would be interested in investment banking would also be interested in investment. Though at some point I would like to read some of those books you suggested to see more of the “deal making side” of banking.</p>
<p>You are free to read whatever you want, just understand that all of those people have an explicit incentive to have you believe that it takes skill to invest (and that they have this skill) :)</p>
<p>good thinking</p>
<p>enjoy the books!</p>
<p>make sure you read liar’s poker and monkey business if you haven’t already for laughs. but don’t ever mention those books to anyone in person.</p>