My first quarter reading began with my head in a textbook until a vacation and this lockdown freed up time for more interesting books. Thankfully, I finished the textbook, along with the course, before the lockdown kicked in.
Here’s what I’ve been reading the past three months:
- Buffett Partnership Letters – I first read the partnership letters several years ago. This was round two. The letters are considered essential reading by the likes of Seth Klarman and others, which is partly why I read them again. The great thing about rereading something after a few years is seeing what stands out now compared to the first read-through. The best books always provide some “new” insights despite having read it before. I hope to get the notes done in the next few weeks.
- Lombard Street – Walter Bagehot describes the British money market in the mid to late 1800s and the important steps to be taken when managing through a financial crisis. Read the notes.
- Selected Speeches of Floyd B. Odlum – The book is a collection of Floyd Odlum speeches given from 1930 to 1960. The speeches cover a range of topics, including two on investment trusts and some back history on the Atlas Corporation, which is why I read it. Odlum founded the Atlas Corporation in 1928, which went on to buy investment trusts and companies trading at a deep discount following the ’29 crash.
- Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t – It’s a short book with shorter chapters on how to construct and structure writing so it’s appealing and digestible for readers.
- Once in Golconda – John Brooks tells the story of the 1920s bull market, its collapse, and the Great Depression that followed. I’m only a third of the way through, but it’s a different perspective based around the famous and infamous names on Wall Street during that period.
- Fundamentals of Investments for Financial Planning – This is a must read…only if you love long, boring textbooks and/or it comes attached to a course that fulfills part of an education requirement for a certain designation.
And some book lists:
- Book Riot’s Quarantine Reading List
- Ryan Holiday’s 20 Books for a Better 2020
- MOI Global Book Recommendations
Last Call
- Marks Memo: Which Way Now? (pdf) – H. Marks
- Predictions for the Coronavirus Stock Market – R. Shiller
- A Viral Market Meltdown V: Back to Basics! – Musings on Markets
- The Limits to Lessons from Past Bear Markets – ValIdea
- Why Time Has Slowed – M. Housel
- Punched in the Face – Above the Market
- When Should I Rebalance? – Irrelevant Investor
- The More You Know a Stock, The Worse Your Performance Gets – Klement on Investing
- The CARES Act: From Rebate Checks To Small Business Relief For The Coronavirus Pandemic – Nerds Eye View
- What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage – Marker
- What Leaders Can Do Now – GatesNotes
- How Epidemics of the Past Changed the Way Americans Lived – Smithsonian
