3 ms·

Very little finance/investment reading. I am surprised.

by mahmud 17y ago

pgbovine 17y ago
my lame speculation: a.) once you're that wealthy, i don't think you care too much about 'get rich quick' or 'crazy investment strategies of the week' books anymore. you probably stash your money somewhere safe b.) i'm sure paul cares a lot more about hacking than the latest fads in finance/investment
- gcheong 17y ago
  "you probably stash your money somewhere safe". Yet unless you have a good understanding of basic investment principles (and I mean principles grounded in rigorous theories which you will likely not find in the kinds of books you mention), you won't know what "safe" means.
- rms 17y ago
  Not to mention he is an active angel investor, which is basically as risky as it can get, so that makes sense to safely diversify.
  - mahmud 17y ago
    This is crucial. He is a tech startup angle, not enough literature for those, it's mostly gut feeling and personal experience. Hard to write valuation texts for this industry.
jeremyw 17y ago
At AngelConf, I seem to remember he said most of his money was invested very conservatively.
paul 17y ago
I'm not aware of any good books on investing, other than Taleb. (which isn't to say there aren't any, just that the ones I've started to read aren't very impressive)
- mahmud 17y ago
  Paul, I don't know about he level of your economic and financial sophistication, but just to get your feet wet, skim the following: The Handbook of Financial Instruments, Frank Fabozzi, editor. A bird's eye view of what is out there. The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham. The book the created the Value Investing philosophy, by Warren Buffet's teacher. Buffet was the only student in that class to get an A+. Financial Statement Analysis, Fridson and Alvarez. How to read corporate reports and papers; whatever the CFOs want you to see,. The Secrets of Economic Indicators, Bernard Baumohl. How to read the whole economy's report cards. Hedges on Hedge Funds, James Hedges. Exactly what you need to know before you hand over your money to a hedge fund. Hopefully, the first book above by Fabozzi told you how many baskets you have available to put your eggs in. Hedge Funds rarely outperform the market, but that's not the whole story. The Vital Few vs The Trivial Many, George Muzea. Good stuff :-) more geared toward active investors (even traders) but it's a good, insightful read. The mindset of "who should I listen to" is excellent. If you make a habit of reading financial statements, and scanning the market from time to time, seeing how movements in a given stock correspond with company news (a fun hobby, btw!) then you will get something from this book, specially on insider trading. That's it for now.

Very little finance/investment reading. I am surprised.

by mahmud 17y ago

Very little finance/investment reading. I am surprised.

my lame speculation: a.) once you're that wealthy, i don't think you care too much about 'get rich quick' or 'crazy investment strategies of the week' books anymore. you probably stash your money somewhere safe b.) i'm sure paul cares a lot more about hacking than the latest fads in finance/investment

gcheong 17y ago
"you probably stash your money somewhere safe". Yet unless you have a good understanding of basic investment principles (and I mean principles grounded in rigorous theories which you will likely not find in the kinds of books you mention), you won't know what "safe" means.
rms 17y ago
Not to mention he is an active angel investor, which is basically as risky as it can get, so that makes sense to safely diversify.
- mahmud 17y ago
  This is crucial. He is a tech startup angle, not enough literature for those, it's mostly gut feeling and personal experience. Hard to write valuation texts for this industry.

jeremyw 17y ago

At AngelConf, I seem to remember he said most of his money was invested very conservatively.

paul 17y ago

I'm not aware of any good books on investing, other than Taleb. (which isn't to say there aren't any, just that the ones I've started to read aren't very impressive)

mahmud 17y ago
Paul, I don't know about he level of your economic and financial sophistication, but just to get your feet wet, skim the following: The Handbook of Financial Instruments, Frank Fabozzi, editor. A bird's eye view of what is out there. The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham. The book the created the Value Investing philosophy, by Warren Buffet's teacher. Buffet was the only student in that class to get an A+. Financial Statement Analysis, Fridson and Alvarez. How to read corporate reports and papers; whatever the CFOs want you to see,. The Secrets of Economic Indicators, Bernard Baumohl. How to read the whole economy's report cards. Hedges on Hedge Funds, James Hedges. Exactly what you need to know before you hand over your money to a hedge fund. Hopefully, the first book above by Fabozzi told you how many baskets you have available to put your eggs in. Hedge Funds rarely outperform the market, but that's not the whole story. The Vital Few vs The Trivial Many, George Muzea. Good stuff :-) more geared toward active investors (even traders) but it's a good, insightful read. The mindset of "who should I listen to" is excellent. If you make a habit of reading financial statements, and scanning the market from time to time, seeing how movements in a given stock correspond with company news (a fun hobby, btw!) then you will get something from this book, specially on insider trading. That's it for now.