# recommend me some good investing/finance books please !



## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

Here is the list of what i have read so far:

The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
The Empowered Investor: A Guide to Building Better Portfolios 
Rob Carrick's Guide to What's Good, Bad and Downright Awful in Canadian Investments Today
Stop Acting Rich: ...And Start Living Like A Real Millionaire
The Power of Passive Investing: More Wealth with Less Work
Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them
Free Rider
The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy
Naked Investor Revised Edition
The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How not to be your own worst enemy
Random Walk Down Wall Street
Liar's Poker
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
Index Investing For Dummies 
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

I am missing any 'must have' ?


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

After that list you probably don't need these, but:

investing: 
- Investing for Canadians for Dummies, Eric Tyson & Tony Martin
- Stock Investing for Canadians for Dummies. Andrew Dagys & Paul Mladjenovic

For Personal Finance generally;

Personal Finance for Canadians for Dummies, 4th ed. (2006) Eric Tyson & Tony Martin

Money Management for Canadians All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies, 2nd Ed. Andrew Bell, Andrew Dagys & Paul Mladjenovic; Tony Inannou w. Heather Ball; Margaret Kerr & JoAnn Kurtz; John Lawrence Reynolds; Kathleen Sindell. I haven’t read this one, seems to be a compilation of material from some of the other books.


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## Xoron (Jun 22, 2010)

My favorites are:

- What works on Wall Street http://www.amazon.ca/What-Works-Wal...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305409710&sr=1-3​a new edition is coming out in Sept 2011​- The little book that still beats the market:
http://www.amazon.ca/Little-Book-St...4159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305409750&sr=1-1​This is like my bible.​- Security Analysis 
http://www.amazon.ca/Security-Analy...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305409804&sr=1-1-spell​by the one of the greatest value investors of all time.​- You Can Be a Stock Market Genius 
http://www.amazon.ca/You-Can-Stock-Market-Genius/dp/0684840073/ref=pd_sim_b_2​


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## Freedom45 (Jan 29, 2011)

Your list covers more than just the basics, but some that I've read and recommended to others, that aren't already on your list:

Wealthy Barber - Chilton
One Up on Wall St - Lynch
All About Dividend Investing - Schreiber

Larry, which books on your list would you say you took the most away from?


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

I would say 'The Millionaire Next Door' and 'Stop Acting Rich'.

Also Free 'Naked Investor Revised Edition' and 'Free Rider'.

Most of the others books just reinforced the rational behind the passive approach, proper asset allocation, etc.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm not sure that you need to read any more books, although I guess it doesn't hurt.

MoneyGal's book is quite good, but it is more relevant if you are getting close to retirement.


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

i am a geek, reading 25+ books per year and tons of whitepaper/internet forums, etc


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

I would be very curious as to how the authors of all the above-mentioned books did with their own personal portfolios during the 2008 market crash. Did some of them do significantly better than others?


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Haha - fair enough.

Some books I've read that I thought were decent:

All about asset allocation - Richard Ferri.

The Missing Manual - Your Money - JD Roth. This is a bit basic, but he links to a ton of decent resources. 

Pensionize your nest egg - fantastic for retirement planning.

New Rules of Retirement - Warren MacKenzie of Second Opinion investor services (formerly Weigh House) - excellent book.

Your money and your brain - Jason Zweig - Very good.

Smoke & Mirrors - Trahair. I really liked this book (it was my first pf book), but the investing side is a bit weak.

Paradox of choice - Schwartz. A bit repetitive after a while, but very interesting.


Here are my reviews of some of the books I listed as well as a few others:

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/your-money-missing-manual-book-review-jd-roth/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/pensionize-your-nest-egg-book-review-milevsky-and-macqueen/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/new-rules-of-retirement-book-review/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/your-money-and-your-brain-book-review/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/analysis-paralysis-decisions/

These were all "so so":

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/money-of-the-mind-book-review/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/the-trouble-with-prosperity-book-review/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/“where-are-the-customers-yacht’s”-book-review/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/the-investment-zoo-by-stephen-jarislowsky/

http://www.moneysmartsblog.com/a-fool-and-his-money-book-review/


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## Echo (Apr 1, 2011)

I just finished Meir Statman's "What Investors Really Want" and I definitely recommend adding it to your book shelf.


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

a classic is-the richest man in babylon.Its a simple read,with powerful advice imo...it lays out the "rules" on how to build wealth.

For a trading book,read jesse livermores book reminiscences of a stock operator.


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## cosmica76 (Jan 31, 2011)

Definitely you must have a really fantastic book with title "You Can Be a Stock Market Genius" by Joel Greenblatt.


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## Financial Cents (Jul 22, 2010)

@Echo - I'm going to buy that book soon.


What about/I suggest:

The Single Best Investment - by L. Miller.

The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between - by. W. J. Burnstein.

The Elements of Investing - by B. Malkiel and C. Ellis.


These are 3 must haves IMO.
Happy reading


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## tombiosis (Dec 18, 2010)

I didn't read the whole thread, so if its been mentioned I apologize...
I just finished reading "The smartest Investment book you'll ever read"...
not bad...basically recommends self directed for retirement with ETF's a la couch potato...


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## TechChairLime (May 18, 2011)

These aren't all hard core instructional books and some more about the broader business/finance world than strict investment advice but I've enjoyed and learned from all of them. If you liked Liar's Poker you'll like some of these.

Unconventional Success - Good discussion of asset allocation, market timing, portfolio construction, and other things written by the manager of Yale's endowment. He discusses what's practical for individual investors (with some reference to his professional experience) given how the financial world tends to stack the deck against them.

Devil Take the Hindminst: A History of Financial Speculation - Very interesting and entertaining look at speculative bubbles over the past few centuries.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - Biographical account of a bigtime trader/speculator, written in the 1920s. It's a fun read and something that in a lot of ways could well have been written today.

Where Are the Customers' Yacht's: or a Good Hard Look at Wall Street - Another book written long ago, I think in the 30s or 40s. It's a kind of satirical, light-hearted look at the industry.

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco - Cool book about the personalities behind a gigantic corporate takeover in the 80s.

Den of Thieves - A WSJ journalist's recounting of the junk bond and insider trading madness from the 80s. Not really investment advice in any way shape or form but beyond being a good story, it fascinated me to see the logistics and mechanics of how this all played out.

Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron - Probably more interesting if you're into the accounting side of things, but a good story regardless.


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## TechChairLime (May 18, 2011)

One more:

Trading and Exchanges: Market Microstructure for Practitioners - Textbook-style treatise on the mechanics of financial markets in great detail, i.e. how they actually operate. It's an expensive book and unnecessary unless unless you're in the field, an active trader, or (like me) just like to nerd out on this stuff.


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## calrest (Apr 13, 2011)

It should be a great idea. 


Financial Cents said:


> The Elements of Investing - by B. Malkiel and C. Ellis


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## CuriousReader (Apr 3, 2009)

Any suggestion on an intro to Technical Analysis book? Something like Technical Analysis for dummy kind of thing.

Assume practically 0 knowledge and want to start learning Technical Analysis

Thanks!


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

some very good recommendations in this thread, keep em coming and big thanks you to all 

i will order a couple books this week


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## Mockingbird (Apr 29, 2009)

CuriousReader said:


> Any suggestion on an intro to Technical Analysis book? Something like Technical Analysis for dummy kind of thing.
> 
> Assume practically 0 knowledge and want to start learning Technical Analysis
> 
> Thanks!


The following site has a plethora of free information on technical analysis (TA). It's an excellent starting point IMHO.
stockcharts.com (Chart School)

Just be aware that understanding TA is quite different from trading itself.

MB


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

+1 for using the word 'plethora'


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## WesternPIKE (May 24, 2011)

These books are more focused on history/economic theory then some of the PF books you have read, but I still think you would find that they have a lot of good information you can apply when investing.

Manias, Panics, and Crashes - Charles P. Kindleberger

Economics for Everyone - Jim Stanford

The Natural Instability of Markets - Michael Perelman

The Crisis of Global Capitalism - George Soros

-Patrick


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

Thanks for all the recommendations, here is what i just ordered:

The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk 

The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between

The Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning

The Skeptical Investor 

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius

The Wealthy Barber


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## Larry6417 (Jan 27, 2010)

The books mentioned so far are great. I would echo the recommendation of _Investor's Manifesto_. After a lifetime of teaching retail investors, the author came to a pessimistic conclusion: average investors are incapable of handling their own investments. The author does his best to discourage readers from doing so. The problem: everyone thinks he's above average i.e. this book applies to the average retail investor but not me. 

I would also add _The Little Book of Behavioral Finance_. It's the best book of its kind that I've read so far.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

I am not sure where you are located, but The Financial Forum is a great place to go and to listen to speakers.

Be careful of too much reading, it leads to paralysis by analysis.


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