4 Books To Read To Learn About Stock Market Investing
If you are wanting to invest in the stock market, then it starts with growing in your understanding of the financial markets. What is a stock? What is a dividend? What determines a good stock from a bad stock? These basics should be understood before making investments. (However, you probably can’t go wrong in the long run with investing in a low-cost index fund even if you don’t completely understand it.)
Where to start? I’ve compiled a short list of books to help you in your quest to growing in knowledge of investing:
1. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
This is the crème de la crème of investing books. Successful investor Warren Buffett says that this is absolutely the best book on the topic. Benjamin Graham has been hailed as the greatest investment advisor of the 20th century. It’s a classic (originally published 1949) that continues to hold true generations later. The book focuses on the long-term and encourages readers to weather the volatility of the markets in order to secure the long-term gain.
2. Common Sense Investing by Jack Bogle
Bogle is the founder of Vanguard Group and has built a legacy on long-term index investing. Like Graham, he exhorts a long-term approach to the markets and gives compelling reasons why. He teaches about the fundamentals of evaluating companies and their stock, as well as managing taxes and understanding wild market swings. This truly is a common sense book that every investor should read!
3. One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch
This widely acclaimed book contains more speculative advice than the previous two, but his reasoning is sounds. His basic premise is that consumers have better perspective than Wall Street analysts because they know what they are personally consuming and how they spend their money. He talks about the difference between winning stocks and losing stocks, and how to distinguish between the two. Despite being written in 2000, Peter Lynch offers time-tested advice and perspective for how to think about the stock market.
4. Get Rich Carefully by James Cramer
CNBC’s Mad Money host might be the most controversial figure in the realm of stock market investing. Love em or hate em, I think this book provides valuable insight into the stock market and how to choose winning stocks and sectors. When I follow Cramer, I don’t necessarily follow his individual stock picks, but I learn from the way that he thinks about investing. This is an entertaining read, and educational at the same time!
