Recommended Reading
We are asked occasionally to recommend a book that might shed a light on good investment ideas. Herewith an investor's reading list.
Books on Investing
The Intelligent Investor, Fourth Revised Edition, by Benjamin Graham (Harper & Row, 1973)
This is the proverbial "if I can only read one book, what should I read," book. Legendary investor Warren Buffett has called this book "By far the best book on investing ever written." Although it was originally published in the 1940s, and Graham died in 1976, making this edition his last revision, the advice remains sound. Although a little dry, we recommend the book without reservation.
Where are the Customers' Yachts? - Fred Schwed Jr.
This is a compendium of tales drawn from Wall Street that illuminate the pitfalls and conflicts that abound in the provision of investment advice. Written in 1940, it is perhaps more relevant now than it was then, given the current proliferation of financial experts and products being thrust upon the man in the street.
Pioneering Portfolio Management - David F. Swensen
Swensen is the Chief Investment Officer for Yale University. He has compiled an extraordinary investment track record with the Yale Endowment Fund. Dry and academic, it is especially relevant to trustees of Foundations.
Contrarian Investment Strategies, by David Dreman
Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Next Generation shows investors how to outperform professional money managers and profit from potential Wall Street panics -- all in Dreman's trademark style.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator -
Edwin Lefevre
Filled with axioms and rules, Lefevre wrote this book in 1923 as a fictionalized memoir of the amazing life of Jesse Livermore. The description of tape reading and manipulation at the turn of the 20th century seem not much different from the excesses of the most recent speculative bubble. Although tough to find, it is well worth the effort.
Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist - Roger Lowenstein
Books on Buffet abound, but this is the best. The first of two books on the list by this author. This illuminating biography reveals a man whose conscientiousness, integrity, and good humor exist alongside an odd emotional isolation.
One Up on Wall Street, by Peter Lynch
Writing with Rothchild (A Fool and His Money), Lynch, previously the manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund, the nation's largest equity fund, argues that average investors can beat Wall Street professionals by using the information that they encounter in their everyday lives.
Beating the Street, by Peter Lynch
An easy to read classic that has empowered thousands of individuals to manage their own affairs. For thirteen years, Peter Lynch managed Fidelity's Magellan Fund with remarkable success. In this book Lynch lays out why, in his view, investors doing their homework and using common sense, can outperform professional money managers.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Burton Malkiel
Malkiel is a Princeton University professor with a strong belief in the theory of efficient markets. This is one of the earliest comprehensible books that incorporated the idea of market efficiency with practical strategies for individual implementation. It has been revised several times since I read it. Get the latest edition you can find.
A chronicle of the rise and fall of Long-Term Capital Management - an event that nearly crippled the U.S. financial system in 1998. It is made timely by the general public's current fascination with hedge funds.
Books Offering Financial Advice
The Number, by Lee Eisenberg
How much do you need to retire? Why don’t people plan better and why don’t we talk about what hard working professionals feel they need to live out their days in comfort? The Number attempts to address both the financial as well as attitudinal aspects of retirement. Worthy to provoke contemplation of this important issue with your spouse, but a pale comparison of a session with our own Dianne White.
KPMG’s Tax Planning for You and Your Family
KPMG LLP, one of Canada’s largest professional services firms, updates this book each year. It offers practical and easy-to-understand strategies that can help you minimize taxes and increase your family’s net worth. It covers such topics as: income splitting, tax tips for the self-employed, and even U.S estate taxes.