About Us - Reading List
Here are some books that we have found to be worthwhile, and that might be enjoyed by the investor. We’ve enjoyed them, and perhaps you will too.
The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham. It’s a classic in its field, and well worth reading. Not the liveliest book we’ve ever read.
New Contrarian Investment Strategy, by David Dreman, A good book, written by another respected and experienced money manager in the field.
Winning the Loser’s Game, (earlier editions titled as Investment Policy), Charles D. Ellis published by Business One Irwin, 1993.
Fixed Income Portfolio Management. by Frank Fabozzi and Gifford Fong. This is a good second book to read on fixed income management.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. by Phillip A. Fisher,
Security Analysis, by Graham & Dodd. The is another classic in the field, but it probably is not a good book for the layman unless they are a CPA.
The New Finance: The Case Against Efficient Markets, by Robert A. Haugen. This book is academically oriented, and somewhat technical, and it is an important book..
The Battle for Investment Survival, by Gerald Loeb. This is a good book for historical perspective and investment wisdom. However, it was written before many of the important developments in modern portfolio theory, and before it was widely accepted.
Beating The Street,. by Peter Lynch. Peter Lynch is the former portfolio manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund, where he did and excellent job. He is a heroic figure among portfolio managers, a group described as viewing a Friday evening with their laptop computer as the optimum entertainment for the weekend.
The Alchemy of Finance, by George Soros. George Soros is another legendary money manager, generally successful running offshore hedge funds. While he often selects individual securities, he is perhaps better known for his macro bets, including his legendary position against the British pound.
Handbook of Fixed Income Portfolio Management, published by Dow Jones Irwin. A good reference book for bonds. Many of the chapters can be read and assimilated separately.
Financial Analysts Journal. The journal of Association for Investment Management and Research. Generally technical for the layman.
In my opinion, the best ones to start with for a core foundation would be Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor; Peter Lynch, Beating the Street, and Ellis’s Winning the Loser’s Game (or Investment Policy), followed shortly thereafter by Fisher’s Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and by Gerald Loeb’s The Battle for Investment Survival.
Also:
Letters of the Chairman
Annual letters of Warren Buffet, available free from
Berkshire Hathaway
3555 Farnam St., Suite 1440
Omaha, NE 68131
American Association of Individual Investors
625 North Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280-0170
What is missing is a good book on Modern Portfolio Theory for the layman; this material can be found in many intermediate investment textbooks.