Maybe my inner circle is small and not representative of all business readers. However, most of my friends love investing and seemingly cannot get enough on how to invest and pick the right companies for their portfolios. Accordingly, I have three books I continually recommend for analyzing companies:
- I read 100 Baggers by Christopher Mayer in 2018 and loved it. Although the book focuses on micro businesses, Mayer’s analytical thinking shines in this readable book.
- The Warren Buffett Way by Hagstrom is my favorite on this investing icon. The one-page models of a handful of investments using the Gordon Growth Model are worth the book’s price. However, I recommend purchasing the hardback copy because I do not see these tables in the Kindle version.
- The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing by Pat Dorsey is perfect for beginners. I included it because even experienced investors will enjoy this quick read.
After reading these books, consider these podcast episodes. I’m thankful for my conversation with Christopher Mayer, whose book is listed above. That interview is one of the ten most downloaded episodes of our 200-plus shows.
The Book I Want to Recommend
I am unsure if I can recommend a book that is no longer in print. In the early 1990s, I wanted to learn everything I could about investing in stocks. I became an annual member of BetterInvesting’s National Association of Investors Corporation. Their organization is geared for investing clubs, but at the time, they allowed individual investors to join.
Their education followed the basic investing tenets of Graham, Dodd, and Buffett. Their software tools were phenomenal, and their paper-based guides to analyzing individual equities were the best I had ever seen.
I stepped away from that organization about ten years later, but I still have many materials from my ten-year education with it. One book that I consider priceless in my portfolio is the NAIC Investors Manual. This is the first book that gave me multiple a-ha moments in learning what to pay for a stock and when to let go. The book is no longer in print, so expect to pay a premium for a used copy.
This out-of-print book is a sleeper when it comes to learning how to invest in individual stocks. Every lifelong learner and value investor should have this guide on their bookshelf.
Don’t Forget This Blog
Are you still craving more resources? The founder of Old School Value writes the best investing blog, which complements the material above.
The blogger has several articles on the Free Piotroski F. Start here to understand how the author writes. Warning: I’m not sure when he turned on advertising on this blog, but it nearly ruins the reader experience. Still, the content is valuable and useful.
Leave a Reply