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Along these lines, any reading recommendations other than https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC12C8/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC12C8/ ?

by 55555 6y ago

adventured 6y ago
I don't generally recommend the Intelligent Investor. I think it's almost always a mistake for ... 99% of new investors to bother with Benjamin Graham. His material is far too dense and often advanced for anyone that isn't quite an experienced investor. I'm sure there are exceptions, however I've found it's a huge turn-off for most new or newish investors, it delays / stunts their learning process, it's an obnoxious book to try digest if you're starting out. It'll make you hate investing or think that value investing is difficult (it's not, it's simultaneously the best approach for generating consistently high returns over time and very easy to learn). Here is what I point new investors to: - Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein. - Margin of Safety, by Seth Klarman - The Little Book That Still Beats the Market, by Joel Greenblatt - Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, by Philip Fisher - Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street, by John Brooks - This article from 1984 by Warren Buffett: https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/columbia-business/superinvestors https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/columbia-business/sup... - Peter Lynch also has a couple of optional books that are decent and very easy to digest for a new investor, very common sense oriented. - Also optionally, Buffett's various writings are often excellent, however they're all over the place in focus, so it's hard to pick one. His annual letters for example can be acquired on the Kindle or from Berkshire's website and many are worth reading (if somewhat boring for most people I suspect). The single most important thought in investing, in my opinion, is to always be cognizant of price vs value. What you're paying, what you're getting in return. Then always be aware of, always estimate as best you can, what your moat is for the investment at the price you're paying (what Klarman and others have called a margin of safety). How much can go wrong with your investment before you drown? How much room for error is there in the price that you paid? I like the Buffett book I reference above, because it pounds home that concept while introducing how Buffett came up, how he thinks (I don't particularly like his book, The Snowball, for that). Also, Margin of Safety is out of print. However, there is a certain Archive site with a time machine, that if you were to put this url into it: https://files.leopolds.com/books/Margin.of.Safety.1st.Edition.1991.Klarman.pdf https://files.leopolds.com/books/Margin.of.Safety.1st.Editio... You'll find an archived copy of the book in PDF format. Alternatively you can put that file name into Google and find some other copies of it floating about still (Klarman refuses to put it back into print and had been having the PDF copies taken down).
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- reducesuffering 6y ago
  Bless your dear soul for the Margin of Safety link. I've been meaning to read it for quite awhile, but you can guess why not. All your other commentary is top notch, although I still think the SP500 is fairly valued (won't have great 8% returns going forward, but won't be 0% stagnant).

Along these lines, any reading recommendations other than https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC12C8/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC12C8/ ?

by 55555 6y ago

Along these lines, any reading recommendations other than https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC12C8/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC12C8/ ?

adventured 6y ago

I don't generally recommend the Intelligent Investor. I think it's almost always a mistake for ... 99% of new investors to bother with Benjamin Graham. His material is far too dense and often advanced for anyone that isn't quite an experienced investor. I'm sure there are exceptions, however I've found it's a huge turn-off for most new or newish investors, it delays / stunts their learning process, it's an obnoxious book to try digest if you're starting out. It'll make you hate investing or think that value investing is difficult (it's not, it's simultaneously the best approach for generating consistently high returns over time and very easy to learn). Here is what I point new investors to: - Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein. - Margin of Safety, by Seth Klarman - The Little Book That Still Beats the Market, by Joel Greenblatt - Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, by Philip Fisher - Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street, by John Brooks - This article from 1984 by Warren Buffett: https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/columbia-business/superinvestors https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/columbia-business/sup... - Peter Lynch also has a couple of optional books that are decent and very easy to digest for a new investor, very common sense oriented. - Also optionally, Buffett's various writings are often excellent, however they're all over the place in focus, so it's hard to pick one. His annual letters for example can be acquired on the Kindle or from Berkshire's website and many are worth reading (if somewhat boring for most people I suspect). The single most important thought in investing, in my opinion, is to always be cognizant of price vs value. What you're paying, what you're getting in return. Then always be aware of, always estimate as best you can, what your moat is for the investment at the price you're paying (what Klarman and others have called a margin of safety). How much can go wrong with your investment before you drown? How much room for error is there in the price that you paid? I like the Buffett book I reference above, because it pounds home that concept while introducing how Buffett came up, how he thinks (I don't particularly like his book, The Snowball, for that). Also, Margin of Safety is out of print. However, there is a certain Archive site with a time machine, that if you were to put this url into it: https://files.leopolds.com/books/Margin.of.Safety.1st.Edition.1991.Klarman.pdf https://files.leopolds.com/books/Margin.of.Safety.1st.Editio... You'll find an archived copy of the book in PDF format. Alternatively you can put that file name into Google and find some other copies of it floating about still (Klarman refuses to put it back into print and had been having the PDF copies taken down).

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
reducesuffering 6y ago
Bless your dear soul for the Margin of Safety link. I've been meaning to read it for quite awhile, but you can guess why not. All your other commentary is top notch, although I still think the SP500 is fairly valued (won't have great 8% returns going forward, but won't be 0% stagnant).