Big Money Thinks Small: Biases, Blind Spots, and Smarter Investing


Joel Tillinghast - 2017
    They may make a lucky bet, realize a sizable profit, and find themselves full of confidence. Their next high-stakes gamble might backfire, not only hitting them in the balance sheet but also taking a mental and emotional toll. Even veteran investors can be caught off guard: a news item may suddenly cause havoc for an industry they've invested in; crowd mentality among fellow investors may skew the market; a CEO may turn out to be unprepared to effectively guide a company. How can one stay focused in such a volatile profession? If you can't trust your past successes to plan and predict, how can you avoid risky situations in the future?In Big Money Thinks Small, veteran fund manager Joel Tillinghast shows investors how to avoid making these mistakes. He offers a set of simple but crucial steps to successful investing, including: - Know yourself, how you arrive at decisions, and how you might be susceptible to self-deception.- Make decisions based on your own expertise, and do not invest in what you don't understand.- Select only trustworthy and capable colleagues and collaborators.- Learn how to identify and avoid investments with inherent flaws.- Always search for bargains, and never forget that the first responsibility of an investor is to identify mispriced stocks.Patience and methodical planning will pay far greater dividends than flashy investments. Tillinghast teaches readers how to learn from their mistakes--and his own, giving investors the tools to ask the right questions in any situation and to think objectively and generatively about portfolio management.

Theory of Investment Value


John Burr Williams - 1938
    thesis at Harvard in 1937. Our good friend, Peter Bernstein mentioned this book several times in his excellent Capital Ideas which was published in 1992. Why the book is interesting today is that it still is important and the most authoritative work on how to value financial assets. As Peter says: "Williams combined original theoretical concepts with enlightening and entertaining commentary based on his own experiences in the rough-and-tumble world of investment." Williams' discovery was to project an estimate that offers intrinsic value and it is called the 'Dividend Discount Model' which is still used today by professional investors on the institutional side of markets. Appendix, Tables

Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor


Janet Lowe - 1997
    . . people listen. "If people want to improve their investing skills, it has to help to study how the Master does it. This short book outlines Buffett's philosophy and techniques." --Peter S. Lynch, Fidelity Investments"Common sense with a deft irony . . ." --John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group and author, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing"It was Warren Buffett's thoughts and philosophy that first captivated investors. Janet Lowe has done us all a great service by collecting and arranging Warren Buffett's wit and wisdom in an easy-to-read and enjoyable book." --Robert G. Hagstrom, Portfolio Manager, Legg Mason Growth Trust mutual fund, and author, The Warren Buffett Way, Second Edition"A must-read. Buffett's wit and wisdom is a roadmap for anyone looking to succeed in business, investing, and life." --Steve Halpern, Editor, www.thestockadvisors.com

Dead Companies Walking: How A Hedge Fund Manager Finds Opportunity in Unexpected Places


Scott Fearon - 2015
    He has earned millions of dollars for his hedge fund over the last thirty years shorting the stocks of businesses he believed were on their way to bankruptcy. In Dead Companies Walking, Fearon describes his methods for spotting these doomed businesses, and how they can be extremely profitable investments. In his experience, corporate managers routinely commit six common mistakes that can derail even the most promising companies: they learn from only the recent past; they rely too heavily on a formula for success; they misunderstand their target customers; they fall victim to the magical storytelling of a mania; they fail to adapt to tectonic shifts in their industry; and they are physically or emotionally removed from their companies' operations. Fearon has interviewed thousands of executives across America, many of whom, unknowingly, were headed toward bankruptcy – from the Texas oil barons of the 80s to the tech wunderkinds of the late 90s to the flush real estate developers of the mid-2000s. Here, he explores recent examples like JC Penney, Herbalife and Blockbuster Entertainment to help investors better predict the next booms and busts—and come out on top.

The Internet of Money


Andreas M. Antonopoulos - 2016
    Acclaimed information-security expert and author of Mastering Bitcoin, Andreas M. Antonopoulos examines and contextualizes the significance of bitcoin through a series of essays spanning the exhilarating maturation of this technology. Bitcoin, a technological breakthrough quietly introduced to the world in 2008, is transforming much more than finance. Bitcoin is disrupting antiquated industries to bring financial independence to billions worldwide. In this book, Andreas explains why bitcoin is a financial and technological evolution with potential far exceeding the label “digital currency.” Andreas goes beyond exploring the technical functioning of the bitcoin network by illuminating bitcoin’s philosophical, social, and historical implications. As the internet has essentially transformed how people around the world interact and has permanently impacted our lives in ways we never could have imagined, bitcoin -- the internet of money -- is fundamentally changing our approach to solving social, political, and economic problems through decentralized technology.

The House Hacking Strategy: How to Use Your Home to Achieve Financial Freedom


Craig Curelop - 2019
    In fact, the average house hacker can turn a single family home or small multifamily property into a cash-flowing investment: You can collect rent that completely covers your living expenses—and then some!In this book, serial house hacker Craig Curelop lays out the in-depth details to make your first (or next) house hack a success.What's inside:- What house hacking is and why it’s one of the best methods for building wealth- The incredible connection between house hacking, wealth building, and early retirement- How to get started house hacking—even with low income or low savings- Strategies to house hack with a family, spouse, or on your own- How to find the ideal house hack property—even in a competitive or expensive market- The simple math behind a house hack property analysis- Property management strategies to make ownership a breezeHouse hacking doesn't have to be a mystery. Discover why so many successful investors support their investment careers with house hacking—and learn from a frugality expert who has “hacked” his way towards financial freedom!

Penny Stocks for Dummies


Peter Leeds - 2013
    Penny Stocks For Dummies explains the basics of penny stocks and provides expert guidance to help you get involved right away.Penny Stocks For Dummies provides you with the information and advice you need before considering an investment in penny stocks, as well as the tools needed to make sound investments. You'll also get expert guidance on identifying growth trends and market sectors positioned for rapid growth, finding undiscovered penny stocks, and understanding the fundamentals of a potential investment in penny stocks.Arms you with the know-how to properly identify, and purchase, winning penny stocks Shows you how good money can be made from these low-priced shares Gets you involved in Penny Stocks quickly, painlessly, and on a small budget Penny Stocks For Dummies appeals to anyone who doesn't have a lot to invest right now in the current economic climate, but who wants to multiply what they do have.

Your Money and Your Brain


Jason Zweig - 2007
    In Your Money and Your Brain, Jason Zweig explains why smart people make stupid financial decisions -- and what they can do to avoid these mistakes. Zweig, a veteran financial journalist, draws on the latest research in neuroeconomics, a fascinating new discipline that combines psychology, neuroscience, and economics to better understand financial decision making. He shows why we often misunderstand risk and why we tend to be overconfident about our investment decisions. Your Money and Your Brain offers some radical new insights into investing and shows investors how to take control of the battlefield between reason and emotion. Your Money and Your Brain is as entertaining as it is enlightening. In the course of his research, Zweig visited leading neuroscience laboratories and subjected himself to numerous experiments. He blends anecdotes from these experiences with stories about investing mistakes, including confessions of stupidity from some highly successful people. Then he draws lessons and offers original practical steps that investors can take to make wiser decisions. Anyone who has ever looked back on a financial decision and said, "How could I have been so stupid?" will benefit from reading this book.

Anatomy of the Bear: Lessons from Wall Street's Four Great Bottoms


Russell Napier - 2007
    Financial market history is a guide to understanding the future. Looking at the four occasions when US equities were particularly cheap - 1921, 1932, 1949 and 1982 - Russell Napier sets out to answer these questions by analysing every article in the "Wall Street Journal" from either side of the market bottom. In the 70,000 articles he examines, one begins to understand the features which indicate that a great buying opportunity is emerging. By looking at how markets really did work in these bear-market bottoms, rather than theorising how they should work, Napier offers investors a financial field guide to making the best financial provisions for the future. This new edition includes a brand new preface from the author.

Street Smarts: Adventures on the Road and in the Markets


Jim Rogers - 2013
    Rogers always had a restless curiosity to experience and understand the world around him.  In Street Smarts, he takes us through the highlights of his life in the financial markets, from his school days at Yale and Oxford --  where despite the fact that he didn’t have enough money to afford the appropriate pair of shoes, he coxed the crew and helped to win the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race as well as the Thames Cup, the first of his three Guiness World Records -- to his first heady taste of Wall Street in the mid - 1960s, and his years helping to run the most successful hedge fund on Wall Street.  As a result of his extraordinary success with the Quantum Fund, Rogers was able to retire at the age of thirty-seven.  Since then he has taught classes in finance at Columbia University, hosted television programs, and traveled the world seeing firsthand how revolutions in Chile affect coffee prices in Seattle, and how shortages of  copper in Africa affect electricity brownouts in Ohio.   In the course of his new book, Rogers offers often surprising observations on how the  world works – and what trends he sees in the future.  He explains why Asia will be the dominant economic force in the twenty-first century – and how he and his wife and two daughters moved to Singapore to prepare his family for the coming changes..  He discusses why America and the European Union are in decline, and what we need to do to right our economy and society.  The age of Wall Street, Rogers claims, when the finance industry drove 25% of America’s growth, is over.  Tomorrow’s economy will be driven by those who make things – food, energy, goods and consumables.  Regarded as one of the most astute investors Wall Street has ever known, Jim Rogers once again is at his acerbic and storytelling best.

Beyond Greed and Fear: Understanding Behavioral Finance and the Psychology of Investing


Hersh Shefrin - 1999
    No matter how savvy or experienced, all financial practitioners eventually let bias, overconfidence, and emotion cloud their judgment and misguide their actions. Yet most financial decision-making models fail to factor in these fundamentals ofhuman nature. In Beyond Greed and Fear, the most authoritative guide to what really influences the decision-making process, Hersh Shefrin uses the latest psychological research to help us understand the human behavior that guides stock selection, financial services, and corporate financial strategy.Shefrin argues that financial practitioners must acknowledge and understand behavioral finance--the application of psychology to financial behavior--in order to avoid many of the investment pitfalls caused by human error. Through colorful, often humorous real-world examples, Shefrin points out thecommon but costly mistakes that money managers, security analysts, financial planners, investment bankers, and corporate leaders make, so that readers gain valuable insights into their own financial decisions and those of their employees, asset managers, and advisors. According to Shefrin, thefinancial community ignores the psychology of investing at its own peril. Beyond Greed and Fear illuminates behavioral finance for today's investor. It will help practitioners to recognize--and avoid--bias and errors in their decisions, and to modify and improve their overall investment strategies.

The Truth About Retirement Plans and IRAs


Ric Edelman - 2014
    Yet only half of all eligible Americans contribute to a retirement plan. That’s because all plans—including the 401(k), 403(b), 457, and even the IRA—are complicated, confusing, and costly. New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed financial advisor Ric Edelman has counseled thousands of savers and retirees and has accumulated his advice in this book. Edelman has created a step-by-step guide. With illuminating prose and simple explanations, he shares everything you need to know as a plan participant: how to contribute even when you think you can’t afford to, how to make wise choices among your investment options, and how to convert your 401(k) into income so you can provide yourself with the lifestyle you want in retirement. Along the way, he debunks the myths and clears up the confusion.

Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt


Michael Lewis - 2014
    stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders. They band together—some of them walking away from seven-figure salaries—to investigate, expose, and reform the insidious new ways that Wall Street generates profits. If you have any contact with the market, even a retirement account, this story is happening to you.

Investing for Growth: How to Make Money by Only Buying the Best Companies in the World


Terry Smith - 2020
    Don't overpay. Do nothing. Some people love to make successful investing seem more complicated than it really is. In this anthology of essays and letters written between 2010-20, leading fund manager Terry Smith delights in debunking the many myths of investing - and making the case for simply buying the best companies in the world. These are businesses that generate serious amounts of cash and know what to do with it. The result is a powerful compounding of returns that is almost impossible to beat. Even better, they aren't going anywhere. Most have survived the Great Depression and two world wars. With his trademark razor-sharp wit, Smith not only reveals what these high-quality companies really look like and where to find them (as well as how to discover impostors), but also: - why you should avoid companies that abuse the English language - how most share buybacks actually destroy value - what investors can learn from the Tour de France - why ETFs are much riskier than most realise - how ESG investors often end up with investments that are far from green or ethical - his ten golden rules for investment - and much, much more. Backed up by the analytical rigour that made his name with the cult classic, Accounting for Growth (1992), the result is a hugely enjoyable and eye-opening tour through some of the most important topics in the world of investing - as well as a treasure trove of practical insights on how to make your money work for you. No investor's bookshelf is complete without it.

The Thoughtful Investor


Basant Maheshwari