Here’s what I’ve been reading the past three months:
- The Art of Wall Street Investing – John Moody’s classic offers a glimpse of what investing was like prior to 1906. Bucket shops, stock pools, and get-rich-quick schemes were regular features. But the common sense investing principles outlined in the book still work today. (notes)
- Decision Under Uncertainty: Drilling Decisions by Oil and Gas Operators – The book deals with decision-making where uncertainty exists in oil drilling but translates to other business and investing decisions. The biggest takeaway is how to think about probabilities in an uncertain environment where an unlucky sequence of outcomes can lead to ruin. (notes)
- Wiped Out: How I Lost a Fortune in the Stock Market While the Averages Were Making New Highs – An anonymous author tells his experience “investing” in the stock market from 1957 to 1964. He went from never investing in stocks, or even gambling at casinos, to trading $62,000 down to nothing. It’s a brutally honest take on speculative behavior.
- Of Long Term Value & Wealth Creation from Equity Investing – Bharat Shah, an Indian investor and director of ASK Group, wrote this book on finding quality compounders. He focuses on companies showing signs of value but also long-term growth and earnings quality. The book is only available in PDF format.
- The Great Depression: A Diary – Benjamin Roth kept a detailed diary of his experience and observations of what was going on around him during the Great Depression. His collection of diary entries offers a daily snapshot of the growing pessimistic view of the economy, markets, and daily life. I’ve only recently started it but the book is hard to put down.
Need more reading ideas? Try these book lists:
- Finance Books for People Who Hate Finance – A good short-list of not-your-typical finance books.
- 15 Books About Lesser-Known Women Who Made History – An interesting list of books on women who shaped history.
- 21 Books So Good People Wish They Could Read Them Again For The First Time – A great list if you’re looking for fiction.
Last Call
- Peter Lynch Made a Remarkably Prescient Market Observation in 1994 – Tker
- Joel Greenblatt: How to Win the Investing Game (podcast) – Richer, Wiser, Happier
- The Art of Money – The Root of All
- Drivers of Deep Value: International Evidence – Verdad
- (Don’t Fear) The Yield Curve, Reprise – Fed
- Stanley Druckenmiller, Part 2: It’s Good To Be Interesting – Insecurity Analysis
- ESG’s Russia Test: Trial by Fire or Crash and Burn? – Musings on Markets
- Why Do Some Bands Rocket When Others Sputter Out? – Harvard Gazette
- How an Exiled Mexican President Accidentally Invented Chewing Gum – Eater
