What if I told you that you can learn to do anything in life and transition to any career path you want just by reading a few books? Most would not believe that it is that easy, but reading books is the best possible way to quickly learn about any industry.
The list below is the best set of investing books I ever read. If you want to land an investing job, you must start by reading these books.
Intelligent Investor
This is the #1 investing book out there for beginners. Buy it now and read it if you haven’t already. There is a reason why everybody says this is the best investing book of all time. You will learn about the criteria for identifying a good value investment, sustainable “moats,” main factors that impact a company’s valuation, and so much more.
Mastering the Market Cycle
Howard Marks is one of my favorite investors of all time. His books are very easy to understand and talks a great deal about how to invest throughout different stages of the cycle. His way of thinking inspired my article on How to Invest Your Money. Highly recommend this one.
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius
Joel Greenblatt’s book on identifying opportunities that are not usually considered by an average investor (spin-offs, mergers, risk arbitrage, restructurings, liquidations, etc.).
Fooling Some of the People All the Time
David Einhorn’s famous book on his short bet on Allied Capital. Details his long battle with management and various government agencies. Great lessons on the importance of being a contrarian when everyone thinks you are wrong.
The Art of Short Selling
Goes through how to identify good shorts, from fads to frauds to failures. This book is especially useful if you are trying to break into the hedge fund industry or work at a multi-manager.
The Little Book that Beats the Market
Basic book that talks about two important factors for identifying good investments: generating high returns on capital while trading at below average prices. It is a quick read and very easy to understand.
More Money than God
If you want a good background on all the investing “gods” since the beginning of the hedge fund industry, then this is the book for you.
The Vulture Investor
If you are interested in distressed debt investing, then this book is a must read. Goes through numerous case studies of famous investors investing in the distressed debt of companies.
If you truly want to trasition to a career in investing, I highly suggest you read all or most of these books to build a basic foundation. Once you have done that, then follow the other steps to land an investing job.
I am a little over a quarter way through More Money Than God after looking at your recommendation and I am absolutely loving it! It’s tying a lot of ideas together as I am getting ready to take the CFA exam. Thanks!
Good to hear! Was one of my favorites out of this list as it gives a good background on all the old time investing legends.
Very useful content, will definitely use this list.
I presume most of these books relate to traditional value investing. Would you have any advice for people trying to figure out if they would enjoy/be good at the multi manager style of investing? I am unaware of any books or guides that walk you through how to predict quarterly earnings. Thanks!!
Not that I know of. I learned everything on the job. You can follow up sectors on your own, read sellside research and over time you figure out what moves stocks.
May put together a guide at some point and post on the site. A lot of people have been asking for one.