Apprenticed Investor: More Reading Ideas

Don't think you need a full reference library; all you need is one reference book to help you occasionally.

Short Selling

Surprisingly, there haven't been too many books on shorting -- or even on the art of selling. One I like is Sy Harding's Riding the Bear: How to Prosper in the Coming Bear Market. It came out in late 1999 -- how's that for auspicious timing! If the "buy & hold" investors had read this back then, they would have saved a lot of money. It's just as sensible today.

Another well-timed book is When to Sell by Justin Mamis. This was published in 1929(!). It's a bit slow going, but is filled with good observations about developing a sell strategy.

A basic approach to shorting is William J. O'Neil's How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short. Pure fundamentalists should be forewarned: it is very technically driven, and may be hard going for those with an aversion to charts. That's just as well; fundamentals can tell you what to buy, sell or short -- but not when. And timing is especially crucial when it comes to shorting.

Fundamentals

Given my inclination towards quantitative, trend, sentiment and macro economics, I am admittedly an outsider on pure fundamentals. But I have found these books to be valuable additions to my knowledge base.

Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel is a terrific overview of all things equity. It's a great place to start, although many fundamentalists would advise you to begin with The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham, which is considered the bible of value investing.

I find Warren Buffett intriguing. His annual reports are legendary; reading them is an education in itself. Start with Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor by Janet Lowe. If you want the unvarnished words from the man himself, then choose The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren E. Buffett.

I would be remiss if I left out Peter Lynch. You can read any of his books, but I like One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market. Lynch shows how people can use their own experience to gain an edge on Wall Street. (We discussed this last year.)

One of the reasons I am not a fundie is that I don't do forensic accounting (bor-ing!). However, a readable approach to getting at those footnotes is Financial Fine Print by Michelle Leder. Those of you who are technically oriented may find this is a tough slog.