ShareSoc
INVESTOR ACADEMY
RECOMMENDED READING LIST
IMPROVING YOUR INVESTMENT SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
One of our key objectives (see Objects) is to improve our members’ investment performance and knowledge. Reading these books would be a good starting point for any investor and can help you to develop your own investing approach and style. But even re-
Title | Author | Comments |
Introductory Books for the New Investor | ||
Beginners Guide to Investment | Bernard Gray | Primer published by Investors Chronicle but it needs a revised edition |
How the Stock Market Works | Michael Beckett and Yvette Essen | Up to date guide sponsored by the Daily Telegraph. |
Investing in Stocks and Shares | Dr John White | A good basic guide. |
The Financial Times Guide to Investing | Glen Arnold | A good overview of investment. |
A Random Walk Down Wall Street | Burton G. Malkiel | Essential reading for those new to stock market investing. |
The FT Guide to Investment Trusts | John Baron | A sound guide to investment trusts. |
The DIY Investor: How to get started in investing and plan for a financially secure future. | Andy Bell | A practical "how to" guide, explaining how modern platforms, investment products and tools can be used for equity investment. ShareSoc full members can read a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/the-diy-investor-how-to-get-started-in-investing-and-plan-for-a-financially-secure-future/ |
Fundamentals Orientated Investing | ||
Ten key investing lessons from an ISA Millionaire | Leon Boros | An e-book published by ShareSoc and written by Leon Boros about the ’snowball effect’, featuring ten key lessons for investors. Click here. |
Intelligent Investor | Benjamin Graham | Now somewhat dated but still a good grounding by the mentor of Warren Buffett. |
Buffettology | Mary Buffett | How Warren Buffett achieves his returns. |
Warren Buffett Way | Charles Hagstrom | Same as above. |
Essays of Warren Buffett | Lawrence Cunningham | The words of the master investor. |
On Investing | John Neff | Words of a successful investor. |
Zulu Principle | Jim Slater | Selecting growth stocks. |
How to Make Money in Stocks | William O’Neill | CANSLIM investment approach. |
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits | Philip A. Fisher | Emphasis is on picking growth stocks. |
Investment Guide to Warrants | Andrew McHattie | A good introduction to warrants. |
Security Analysis | Graham & Dodd | Update of Ben Graham’s classic tome. May be a bit heavy going for some but comprehensive. |
Selecting Shares that Perform: 10 Ways to Beat the Stock Market | Richard Koch and Leo Gough | A good introduction to share selection for medium to long term investors. |
FT Guide to Using the Financial Pages | Romesh Vaitilingam | Although aimed originally at how to interpret the information in the Financial Times, it’s a good grounding in interpreting financial information generally. |
Don’t Count On It! | John Bogle | A good explanation of how the US mutual fund industry operates to the disadvantage of investors by the advocate of low cost index tracking funds. |
How to Make Money in Value Stocks | Ed Croft, Ben Hobson and David Brickell | A very comprehensive overview of "fundamental" investment techniques and the rules used by the masters. Complements the Stockopedia Pro service. |
The Little Book that Beats the Market | Joel Greenblatt | Suggests a "Magic Formula" for beating stock market indices by automated stock selection based on financial fundamentals. ShareSoc full members can read a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/the-little-book-that-beats-the-market/ |
How to Make a Million Slowly | John Lee | How the author became an "ISA Millionaire" in record time. |
What Works on Wall Street | James P. O’Shaughnessy | An analysis of the factors that affect investment returns from companies. |
One up on Wall Street | Peter Lynch | How to find potential investments and value them |
The Defensive Value Investor | John Kingham | A guide to building a high-yield, low-risk share portfolio. |
Invest In The Best | Keith Ashworth-Lord | Business perspective investing by a disciple of Warren Buffett. |
High Returns from Low Risk: A Remarkable Stock Market Paradox | Pim van Vliet | Busting the myth that achieving higher returns requires taking greater risks. |
Trading Techniques | ||
Book of Investing Rules | Jenks & Eckett | Rules of thumb from experienced investors. |
How to Trade in Stocks | Jesse Livermoore | A classic text. |
Trader Vic: Methods of Wall St. Master | Victor Sperandeo | Practical advice from an experienced Wall St.trader. |
How I Trade in Stocks & Bonds | Richard D. Wyckoff | Another classic text. |
Investment Policy | Charles Ellis | How to formulate an investment plan, or "win the loser’s game" as he puts it. |
Practical Speculation | Niederhoffer & Kenner | A traders view of the market. |
Stock Market Profits | Richard Schabacker | Overview of market practices. |
The UK Trader’s Bible | Dominic Connolly | Contains lots of detail technical information on how the markets operate and trading techniques. Useful background information even for less frequent traders. ShareSoc full members can read a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/the-uk-traders-bible-the-complete-guide-to-trading-the-uk-stock-market/ |
The Art of Execution: How the world’s best investors get it wrong and still make millions | Lee Freeman-Shor | Essential reading on portfolio management. Full members of ShareSoc can find a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/the-art-of-execution-how-the-worlds-best-investors-get-it-wrong-and-still-make-millions/ |
Technical Analysis | ||
Guide to Charting | Alistair Blair | Basic charting techniques. |
Accounting and Legal | ||
Accounting for Growth | Terry Smith | Creative accounting techniques. |
Meaning of Company Accounts | Reid & Middleton | How to analyse company accounts. |
Company Law Handbook | Keith Walmsley | Comprehensive reference guide. |
The Signs Were There | Tim Steer | How to spot and avoid impending corporate disasters. You can find a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/education/the-signs-were-there-corporate-disasters-and-how-to-avoid-them/ |
Accounting and Business Valuation Methods - How to interpret IFRS accounts | Malcolm Howard | This book is intended to appeal to junior accountants and entrepreneurs who need guidance and practical analytical tools to enable them to develop business plans, raise capital and assess risk. |
Historic, Educational, Biographical, Comic & Esoteric | ||
Caught Short | Eddie Cantor | A memoir of the Wall Street Crash |
Do You Sincerely Want to be Rich | Raw, Page & Hodgson | The story of IOS, Bernie Cornfeld and how investors in mutual funds get taken for a ride. |
Fortune’s Formula | William Poundstone | The links between gambling and investment. |
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator | Edwin Lefevre | Trading techniques of Jesse Livermoore. |
The Big Short | Michael Lewis | History of the sub-prime banking crisis. |
Decline and Fall of Banking | William Brown | The banking crisis including extended analysis of Northern Rock. |
Fooled by Randomness | N.N. Taleb | The role of chance in the markets. |
Money Makers | Jonathan Davis | Biographies of top fund managers. |
Accidental Empires | Robert Cringely | Amusing software industry history. |
The Great Crash 1929 | John K.Galbraith | A short history of the Wall Street Crash. |
Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, from Jesse Livermore to Warren Buffett & beyond. | Matthew Partridge | A review of the greatest investors in history and their investment styles. Full members of ShareSoc can find a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/superinvestors-lessons-from-the-greatest-investors-in-history-from-jesse-livermore-to-warren-buffett-beyond/ |
The Deal Maker | Axel Madsen | Biography of William Durant (GM creator). |
Titan | Ron Chernow | Biography of John D. Rockefeller. |
The Rational Optimist | Matt Ridley | A mixture of anthropology, economics and history. |
The New Few | Richard Mount | An analysis of the current problems in business and political democracy with the rise of oligarchs in the UK. |
Monkey With a Pin | Pete Comley | An explanation of why stock market investment returns are never as good as you expect. |
Inflation Tax | Pete Comley | How inflation erodes your wealth and how to avoid it. Full members of ShareSoc can find a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/inflation-tax-the-plan-to-deal-with-the-debts/ |
Free Capital | Guy Thomas | How 12 Private Investors made Millions in the Stock Market. |
The Deals of Warren Buffett - Volume 1: The First $100m | Glen Arnold | How Warren Buffett went from an initial $120 to his first $100m. ShareSoc full members can read a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/the-deals-of-warren-buffett-volume-1-the-first-100m/ |
Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles | William Quinn, John D. Turner | Why do stock and housing markets sometimes experience amazing booms followed by massive busts and why is this happening more and more frequently? ShareSoc full members can read a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/boom-and-bust-a-global-history-of-financial-bubbles/ |
Where are the customers’ yachts? | Fred Schwed | An entertaining read, exposing the practices and people of Wall Street in the 1940s - but with many of the lessons still applicable today and in the City as well as on Wall Street. ShareSoc full members can read a review of this book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/book_reviews/where-are-the-customers-yachts/ |
Share Power | Merryn Somerset Webb | A brilliant and insightful page turner. Fun and easy to read, this short book explains how ordinary people can change the way that capitalism works. You can read a review of the book here: https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/education/share-power-book-review/ |
Business Background | ||
In Search of Excellence | Peters and Waterman | What makes a successful company. |
Competitive Strategy | Michael Porter | How to analyse companies and industries. |
Only the Paranoid Survive | Andrew Grove | Overcoming crises in businesses. |
Other People’s Money | John Kay | The financial structure of the modern world and how to reform it. |
Don’t forget to let us know if you have your own recommendations to add to this list. Note that some of these books have been reviewed in past editions of the ShareSoc Informer newsletter or on the Members Network – use the site search facilities to check for the presence of a review on a specific title.