The 10 Best Investing Books to Help You Buy Low and Sell High
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If you are looking to invest substantial capital in the stock market or enhance your present understanding of the market to optimize profitability, it would behoove you to peruse some of the best investing books. Fortunately, investment has been explored extensively in research institutions, universities, and private corporations. Some of the best minds in finance have postulated strong hypotheses regarding market behavior. If you want to learn about investment, a shortage of reading material will never be an issue.
Product FAQ
1. What Are the Best Investing Books?
The best investing books are sufficiently myriad in terms of perspective to defy succinct categorization. However, the books on our list all offer the perspective of highly successful financial professionals with extensive Wall Street experience. Many go beyond economic theory and offer readers concrete strategies for maximizing the profitability of their investment portfolios.
2. Which Market Perspective Is Most Valuable?
Unfortunately, economics as a discipline cannot, or at least has yet to, crown one strategy or perspective the penultimate market vision, and many of the perspectives proffered in the books listed below contradict one another. Each has proven its value in one way or another. A dedicated investor is best equipped with a working knowledge of many perspectives on the market from which the investor can draw upon as needed.
3. What Do the Best Investing Books Teach Their Readers?
The lessons of the best investing books are two-fold but closely related. First, books on investing analyze the market’s behavior and introduce readers to various tools that assist the reader in making sense of the market’s behavior. Secondly, on a more practical level, investing books teach readers to craft their portfolios in a manner that will build long-term wealth.
4. How Should I Pick the Best Investing Book for Me?
The premise of each book listed below will be clear based on our descriptions below. Each of the best investing books aligns with a category of investor based on experience, working capital, and goals. Once you have a clear understanding of where you are financially and where you want to go, the book that best fits with your proclivities will become clear.
How We Reviewed
In order to create our list of the best investing books, we surveyed reviews by major periodicals that cover finance, research institutions, universities, and reviews written by readers. We then reviewed information from major retailers for relevant price points, availability, and additional insight regarding the popularity of each book within the purview of our review.
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Overall Price Range
You can expect to pay up to $30 for a book on investment. This would likely be the case if you choose to purchase the most up-to-date book or edition of a previously published work replete with an analysis of the most recent trends in the stock market. Some of the best investing books were published long ago and still contain valuable information and guidance. These books are often sold for less than $20.
What We Reviewed
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The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing
Summary
At this point in the history of financial analysis, The Intelligent Investor has achieved canonical status among the best investing books. In this work, Benjamin Graham describes the group approach to buying securities, a deviation from endorsements of the selective approach Graham espoused earlier in his career. The group approach posits investors are more likely to beat market averages by purchasing groups of securities that fundamental analyses indicate are undervalued while paying little attention to each company in particular. This approach later became known as value investing.
About the Author
Benjamin Graham was a founding partner of the Newman-Graham Partnership, a successful Wall Street investment firm where Graham first employed his former student, Warren Buffett. Graham would go on to teach business and economics at Columbia University and UCLA.
Formats Available
The Intelligent Investor is available in hardcover, in paperback, on audio, and on Kindle.
Publisher and Year Published
The Intelligent Investor was first published by Harper & Sons in 1949.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-tested Strategy for Successful Investing
Summary
In A Random Walk Down Wall Street, Burton Malkiel insinuates investors cannot beat market averages, or at least that they cannot do so consistently. Malkiel is a propagator of the random walk hypothesis which is closely related to the efficient-market hypothesis. Both stipulate that the price of a security is based on all available information and that prices change only when new information is available; therefore, investors cannot beat market averages because they only receive new information when that information is already reflected in an asset’s price.
About the Author
Burton Malkiel has served in numerous prestigious capacities including Director of the Vanguard group, chairman of the economics department at Princeton University, and Dean of the Yale School of Management.
Formats Available
A Random Walk Down Wall Street is available in paperback or hardcover.
Publisher and Year Published
A Random Walk Down Wall Street was originally published in 1973 by W. W. Norton & Company.
Irrational Exuberance: Revised and Expanded Third Edition
Summary
Named after Alan Greenspan’s famous quote warning of the potential of a financial meltdown, Irrational Exuberance is perhaps the most pessimistic of the best investing books we surveyed for this article. Robert Schiller used a psychologically informed view of behavioral economics to predict the Dot-com bubble that burst in the spring of 2000 and the housing bubble of 2007-2008 that wrought havoc on the American economy for years thereafter. Schiller’s peers have criticized his cynical view for a lack of specificity that seems to predict any crisis given a sufficiently lengthy time-frame.
About the Author
Robert Schiller is a long-time professor and fellow at Yale University. He has also served a number of regulatory and research organizations in a wide variety of capacities in addition to founding his own investment firm: MacroMarkets, LLC.
Formats Available
The third edition of Irrational Exuberance is available in paperback, hardcover, and as an eTextbook.
Publisher and Year Published
Irrational Exuberance was first published by the Princeton University Press in March 2000.
One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market
Summary
Peter Lynch’s One Up On Wall Street is one of the best investing books for everyday investors looking to build wealth for retirement. Lynch explains how investors can incorporate information and experience from day-to-day life into a robust investment portfolio that pays off in the long-term. His approach includes analyzing widely available products and services to find companies with a tremendous upside. His work contains detailed instructions on how to build a diversified portfolio and manage that portfolio effectively.
About the Author
Peter Lynch managed the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990. During that time, assets in the fund increased from a valuation of $18 million to $14 billion.
Formats Available
One Up On Wall Street is available in paperback or on Kindle.
Publisher and Year Published
One Up On Wall Street was originally published by Simon & Schuster in 1989.
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
Summary
The Essays of Warren Buffett are compromised of letters Buffett has written to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders regarding sound business practices and wise investing strategies. The collection has grown slightly in each edition but the core of the work remains the same: Buffett’s nuanced analysis of the market put in plain, easily digestible language. For readers interested in gleaning the insights of a financial legend through an informal lens, this is one of the best investing books on our list.
About the Author
Warren Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a world-renowned investor, and the third wealthiest person on the planet.
Formats Available
Buffet’s essays are available in paperback or on Kindle.
Publisher and Year Published
The Carolina Academic Press published the 4th edition of Buffett’s essays in 2015.
Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook
Summary
Of the best investing books we reviewed for this article, Tony Robbin’s Unshakeable most closely resembles a battle plan. This book guides investors through the construction of an actionable plan for financial independence and exposes the most common pitfalls investors encounter by featuring the insight of experts on 401(k) accounts, Wall Street investment firms, and market volatility. If you feel overwhelmed by the extant information on investing and struggle to find a first step, this the best investing book for you.
About the Author
Tony Robbins is a well-known author and life coach. He is less of a financial genius and more of compositional authority with access to the world’s foremost financial thinkers.
Formats Available
Unshakeable is available on Kindle, in print, and as an audiobook.
Publisher and Year Published
Simon & Schuster published Unshakeable in 2017.
A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market
Summary
Of all the best investing books we reviewed for this article, A Man for All Markets is certainly the most bizarre. The book’s author, Edward Thorp, used probability theory to overcome the house advantage in blackjack while working as a professor at MIT. He eventually turned his agile mathematical mind to Wall Street where he made a fortune in hedge funds and then, just for the sake of variety, he collaborated with Claude Shannon and managed to create the world’s first wearable computer.
About the Author
Outside of his escapades on the strip in Las Vegas and on Wall Street, Edward Thorp has worked as a mathematics and finance professor at universities throughout the United States.
Formats Available
A Man for All Markets is available in print as either a paperback or a hardcover, as an audiobook and on Kindle.
Publisher and Year Published
A Man for All Markets was published by Random House in 2017.
Good Stocks Cheap: Value Investing with Confidence for a Lifetime of Stock Market Outperformance
Summary
Similar to the work of Benjamin Graham, Good Stocks Cheap encourages investors to adopt the value investing mindset whereby an investor recognizes that while stock prices change constantly the actual value of an asset is relatively static. With this insight in mind, investors can use fundamental analysis to identify undervalued assets and beat market averages in the long-term. Good Stocks Cheap includes a bevy of practical information that Graham’s classic work lacks, making this one the best investing books for those are interested in value investing but lack experience with the market.
About the Author
Kenneth Jeffery Marshall is a business and economics professor. He teaches at Stanford, the University of California’s Berkeley campus, and the Stockholm School of Economics.
Formats Available
Good Stocks Cheap is available in print, on Kindle, and as an audiobook.
Publisher and Year Published
Good Stocks Cheap was published by McGraw-Hill in 2017.
The Truth About Your Future: The Money Guide You Need Now, Later, and Much Later
Summary
The Truth About Your Future is either an unlikely Sci-Fi fantasy or the most prescient of the best investing books. Ric Edelman scrutinizes the impact science and technology will have on the world economy and he comes to some far-reaching conclusions. Edelman sees a world in which the economic landscape barely resembles the present market and he provides helpful, if at times far-flung, advice for shoring up your portfolio to contend with the rise of AI, the internet of things, and cyborgs.
About the Author
Ric Edelman is an author, widely lauded financial advisor, and the founder of Edelman Financial Solutions.
Formats Available
The Truth About Your Future is available in print, on Kindle, and as an audiobook.
Publisher and Year Published
Simon & Schuster published The Truth About Your Future in 2017.
Money Machine: The Surprisingly Simple Power of Value Investing
Summary
Money Machine is a great book for investors who have spent their lives and many of their dollars chasing payouts based on tips from friends, stories buried in the Wall Street Journal, or the ever-vulnerable hunch. Gary Smith advocates the value investing mentality that cautions investors against outsize expectations and demonstrates the durability of value that enables long-term profitability once the wary investor has identified a group of undervalued assets and given the market time to recognize the value that was there all along.
About the Author
Gary Smith is an economics professor at Pomona College in California and the author of ten books on finance.
Formats Available
Money Machine is available in print, on Kindle, and as an audiobook.
Publisher and Year Published
Money Machine was published by AMACON in 2017.
The Verdict
If you are not entirely new to the world of investing, any of the classical titles at the top of our list would serve as excellent perspectives on the market broadly, especially if you chose two authors who would disagree on substantial economic issues like Graham and Malkiel. For those newer to investment it would be best to choose a book that provided a scaffolded guide to an investment theory, particularly value investing as its philosophical tenants lend themselves well to investing for personal financial security.
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