Independent Investor

This book treats stock trading as an adventure, but it is also a good introduction to the mentality of stock trading.
This autobiography is set in the first half of the twentieth century and stars Jesse Livermore, who was a natural speculator.  Jesse Livermore was very much larger than life, even though that is a metaphor that is far too overused generally.  He was one of the most influential speculators of the early twentieth century who won and lost fortunes, and often did this …

Liar’s Poker will not give you many good trading ideas.  It will also give a rather out dated view of how the financial markets operate today as it misses out on the computer revolution in the market.  However it is useful in setting the rather mad, borderline insane, scene that makes up for many professional financial market operations.  And this in itself leads to a very important lesson.
Firstly this is a true story.  Michael Lewis was an art history graduate who got a …

The Zurich Axioms is a classic.  In fact it’s the first investment book I ever read from cover to cover.  It’s also got a very easy to read style.  I was fourteen when I read it.  This isn’t as odd as it sounds as Max Gunther claims to have been thirteen when he first made money on the market.
The Zurich Axioms aims to tell a small time investor what they need to do to become rich in the markets by showing them practical behaviours …

I first read Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds during the internet bubble.  Although I can’t say it made me rich, it kept me from becoming poor.
It is an evergreen book, having been written more than 150 years ago by the Scottish journalist Charles Mackay.  I hate to say it but it only really has three useful chapters, and these are the first three.  The rest of the book simply shows the easy prejudices of mid nineteenth century liberalism.
It could be argued …