Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude


Mark Douglas - 2000
    Douglas uncovers the underlying reasons for lack of consistency and helps traders overcome the ingrained mental habits that cost them money.  He takes on the myths of the market and exposes them one by one teaching traders to look beyond random outcomes, to understand the true realities of risk, and to be comfortable with the "probabilities" of market movement that governs all market speculation.

Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street


William Poundstone - 2006
    One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born, gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of information theory—the basis of computers and the Internet—to the problem of making as much money as possible, as fast as possible.Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the "Kelly formula" to Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenonally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett's rate of return. Fortune's Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider's edge.Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market—and Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right.

Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles


William Quinn - 2020
    Turner take us on a riveting ride through the history of financial bubbles, visiting, among other places, Paris and London in 1720, Latin America in the 1820s, Melbourne in the 1880s, New York in the 1920s, Tokyo in the 1980s, Silicon Valley in the 1990s and Shanghai in the 2000s. As they do so, they help us understand why bubbles happen, and why some have catastrophic economic, social and political consequences whilst others have actually benefited society. They reveal that bubbles start when investors and speculators react to new technology or political initiatives, showing that our ability to predict future bubbles will ultimately come down to being able to predict these sparks.

Buffett Beyond Value: Why Warren Buffett Looks to Growth and Management When Investing


Prem C. Jain - 2010
    Jain uncovers the key elements of Buffett's approach that every investor should be aware of.With Buffett Beyond Value, you'll learn that, contrary to popular belief, Warren Buffett is not a pure value investor, but a unique thinker who combines the principles of both value and growth investing strategies. You'll also discover why understanding CEOs is more important than studying financial metrics; and why you need an appropriate psychological temperament to be a successful investor.Reveals Buffett's multifaceted investment principles Discusses how Buffett thinks differently from others about portfolio diversification, market efficiency, and corporate governance Highlights how you can build a diverse and profitable investment portfolio With this book as your guide, you'll learn how to successfully invest like Warren Buffett.

A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation


Scott Nations - 2017
    Only billionaire J.P. Morgan was able to save the stock market.Black Tuesday (1929): As the newly created Federal Reserve System repeatedly adjusted interest rates in all the wrong ways, investment trusts, the darlings of that decade, became the catalyst that caused the bubble to burst, and the Dow fell dramatically, leading swiftly to the Great Depression.Black Monday (1987): When "portfolio insurance," a new tool meant to protect investments, instead led to increased losses, and corporate raiders drove stock prices above their real values, the Dow dropped an astonishing 22.6 percent in one day.The Great Recession (2008): As homeowners began defaulting on mortgages, investment portfolios that contained them collapsed, bringing the nation's largest banks, much of the economy, and the stock market down with them.The Flash Crash (2010): When one investment manager, using a runaway computer algorithm that was dangerously unstable and poorly understood, reacted to the economic turmoil in Greece, the stock market took an unprecedentedly sudden plunge, with the Dow shedding 998.5 points (roughly a trillion dollars in valuation) in just minutes.The stories behind the great crashes are filled with drama, human foibles, and heroic rescues. Taken together they tell the larger story of a nation reaching enormous heights of financial power while experiencing precipitous dips that alter and reset a market where millions of Americans invest their savings, and on which they depend for their futures. Scott Nations vividly shows how each of these major crashes played a role in America's political and cultural fabric, each providing painful lessons that have strengthened us and helped us to build the nation we know today.A History of the United States in Five Crashes clearly and compellingly illustrates the connections between these major financial collapses and examines the solid, clear-cut lessons they offer for preventing the next one.

The Stock Market Cash Flow: Four Pillars of Investing for Thriving in Today's Markets (Rich Dad Advisors)


Andy Tanner - 2014
    The book begins by addressing many of the challenges stock market investors face today and the various ways many investors use the stock market to achieve their goals.A valuable discussion of where paper assets fit (and do not fit) in the context of Rich Dad principles and its place among the other assets classes such as real estate business and commodities.The bulk of the book educates investors on "Andy's 4 pillars of stock market income" and effectively simplifies the four concepts to help investors begin to harness their power.The book concludes with ideas for an individual action plan suited to the goals of the reader

Geopolitical Alpha: An Investment Framework for Predicting the Future


Marko Papić - 2020
    Persuasively written by author, investment strategist, and geopolitical analyst Marko Papic, the book applies a novel framework for making sense of the cacophony of geopolitical risks with the eye towards generating investment-relevant insights.Geopolitical Alpha posits that investors should ignore the media-hyped narratives, insights from smoke-filled rooms, and most of their political consultants and, instead, focus exclusively on the measurable, material constraints facing policymakers. In the tug-of-war between policymaker preferences and their constraints, the latter always win out in the end. Papic uses a wealth of examples from the past decade to illustrate how one can use his constraint-framework to generate Geopolitical Alpha. In the process, the book discusses:What paradigm shifts will drive investment returns over the next decade Why investment and corporate professionals can no longer treat geopolitics as an exogenous risk How to ignore the media and focus on what drives market narratives that generate returns Perfect for investors, C-suite executives, and investment professionals, Geopolitical Alpha belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the intersection of geopolitics, economics, and finance.

Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions


Joshua Rosenbaum - 2009
    Due to the fast-paced nature of this world, however, no one has been able to take the time to properly codify the lifeblood of the corporate financier's work--namely, valuation. Rosenbaum and Pearl have responded to this need by writing the book that they wish had existed when they were trying to break into Wall Street. Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions is a highly accessible and authoritative book that focuses on the primary valuation methodologies currently used on Wall Street--comparable companies, precedent transactions, DCF, and LBO analysis. These methodologies are used to determine valuation for public and private companies within the context of M&A transactions, LBOs, IPOs, restructurings, and investment decisions. Using a step-by-step how-to approach for each methodology, the authors build a chronological knowledge base and define key terms, financial concepts, and processes throughout the book. They also provide a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of LBOs and an organized M&A sale process.In the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis and ensuing credit crunch, the world of finance is returning to the fundamentals of valuation and critical due diligence. This involves the use of more realistic assumptions governing approach to risk as well as a wide range of value drivers. While valuation has always involved a great deal of "art" in addition to time-tested "science," the artistry is perpetually evolving in accordance with market developments and conditions. In this sense, this book is particularly topical--in addition to detailing the technical fundamentals behind valuation, the authors infuse practical judgment skills and perspective to help guide the science.

Creative Cash Flow Reporting: Uncovering Sustainable Financial Performance


Charles W. Mulford - 2005
    It identifies the common steps used to yield misleading cash flow amounts, demonstrates how to adjust the cash flow statement for more effective analysis, and how to use adjusted operating cash flow to uncover earnings that have been misreported using aggressive or fraudulent accounting practices. Charles W. Mulford, PhD, CPA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of three books, including the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices. Eugene E. Comiskey, PhD, CPA, CMA (Atlanta, GA), is the coauthor of the bestselling The Financial Numbers Game: Identifying Creative Accounting Practices.

When Money Dies: The Nightmare Of The Weimar Hyper Inflation


Adam Fergusson - 1975
    In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt. People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved. Germany’s finances descended into chaos, with severe social unrest in its wake. Money may no longer be physically printed and distributed in the voluminous quantities of 1923. However, “quantitative easing,” that modern euphemism for surreptitious deficit financing in an electronic era, can no less become an assault on monetary discipline. Whatever the reason for a country’s deficit necessity or profligacy, unwillingness to tax or blindness to expenditure it is beguiling to suppose that if the day of reckoning is postponed economic recovery will come in time to prevent higher unemployment or deeper recession. What if it does not? Germany in 1923 provides a vivid, compelling, sobering moral tale.

Making the Most of Your Money Now (Revised)


Jane Bryant Quinn - 2009
    This proven, comprehensive guidebook steers you around the risks and helps you make smart and profitable decisions at every stage of your life. Are you single, married, or divorced? A parent with a paycheck or a parent at home? Getting your first job or well along in your career? Helping your kids in college or your parents in their older age? Planning for retirement? Already retired and worried about how to make your money last? You'll find ideas to help you build your financial security here. Jane Bryant Quinn answers more questions more completely than any other personal-finance author on the market today. You'll reach for this book again and again as your life changes and new financial decisions arise. Here are just a few of the important subjects she examines: • Setting priorities during and after a financial setback, and bouncing back • Getting the most out of a bank while avoiding fees • Credit card and debit card secrets that will save you money • Family matters -- talking money before marriage and mediating claims during divorce • Cutting the cost of student debt, and finding schools that will offer big "merit" scholarships to your child • The simplest ways of pulling yourself out of debt • Why it's so important to jump on the automatic-savings bandwagon • Buying a house, selling one, or trying to rent your home when buyers aren't around • Why credit scores are more important than ever, plus tips on keeping yours in the range most attractive to lenders • Investing made easy -- mutual funds that are tailor-made for your future retirement • What every investor needs to know about building wealth • How an "investment policy" helps you make wise decisions in any market • The essential tax-deferred retirement plans, from 401(k)s to Individual Retirement Accounts -- and how to manage them • How to invest in real estate at a bargain price (and how to spot something that looks like a bargain but isn't) • Eleven ways of keeping a steady income while you're retired, even after a stock market crash • Financial planning -- what it means, how you do it, and where to find good planners Page by page, Quinn leads you through the pros and cons of every decision, to help you make the choice that will suit you best. This is the single personal-finance book that no family should be without.

Diary of a Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager


Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager - 2010
    government's credit? I mean, if the U.S. defaults, "what bank" is going to be able to make good on that contract? Who are you going to buy that contract from, the Martians? n+1: When does this begin to feel like less of a cyclical thing, like the weather, and more of a permanent, end-of-the-world kind of thing? HFM: When you see me selling apples out on the street, that's when you should go stock up on guns and ammunition.

A Zebra in Lion Country: The Dean of Small Cap Stocks Explains How to Invest in Small Rapidly Growin


Ralph Wanger - 1997
     When "USA Today" asked a group of prominent professional portfolio managers whom they would choose to manage their personal wealth, the person most often cited was Ralph Wanger (Warren Buffett came in second). Hailed by both "Newsweek" and "U.S. News & World Report" as the "dean" of small-cap investing, Ralph Wanger explains the principles of investing in small, rapidly growing companies whose stocks will yield well-above-average returns. Investors are like zebras in lion country: They must settle for meager pickings by sticking in the middle of the herd, or seek richer rewards at the outer edge, where hungry lions lurk. Wanger shows investors -- whether they are investing in mutual funds or buying stocks on their own -- how to achieve the right balance of safety and risk to survive and prosper in the investment jungle. Destined to become a classic in the field of investing, "A Zebra in Lion Country" is as entertaining as it is instructive.

A Beginner's Guide to Investing: How to Grow Your Money the Smart and Easy Way


Alex H. Frey - 2012
    

Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity


Garrett B. Gunderson - 2007
    In "Killing Sacred Cows," Gunderson boldly exposes ingrained fallacies and misguided traditions in the world of personal finance.