7 Books to Teach You How to Invest in Stocks

Welcome amigos to another financial literacy installment here at CCM blog.  For you today I have the books I credit with my success as a stock market investor.  Unless you have a parent that has been a stock market investor for a long time, or is in the financial industry, most of us will need to learn how to make money in the stock market the conventional way, by teaching ourselves.

A library card and frequent visits to Barnes and Noble was my approach.  There were some titles that were referenced over and over in trade books on stock market investing, and these I wrote down for further inspection as they were not always available for check-out.  When I couldn't find books for sale at reasonable prices at Barnes and Noble, I relied on the Internet, namely, Amazon and Ebay.

The seven titles I have for you here today are too valuable not to own.  I may have started by reading them for free, but I then got my own copies for my investment library.  They are what I consider to be essential to anyone's collection.  They are meant to be passed down to your children, and so your children can pass them down to their children.  That's how much I esteem these books and their authors.

My personal stock market investing philosophy includes finding "value" stocks and "value-contrarian" hybrid stocks.    I have never been a "growth" stock investor.  If you are familiar with these books, you will see why I have adopted my current style.  Here they are without further delay:

1.  All About Stocks: The Easy Way to Get Started, Third Edition, by Esme Faerber.  From this book I learned all of the terms, simple math concepts, and basics of investing in stocks.  It is a survey book that is practical and hands-on.

2.  Security Analysis: Sixth Edition, by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd.  This may as well be the Bible of investing in securities (stocks and bonds).  It is over 730 plus pages of pure brilliance by the Masters of value investing.

3.  The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing, by Benjamin Graham.  Another Benjamin Graham masterpiece.  Don't even begin to think about investing in individual company stock without first having read this book.

4.  What I Learned Losing A Million Dollars by Jim Paul and Brendan Moynihan.  A commodities trader relates his rise, and erroneous mindset that led him to make some epic mistakes on the job.  But the lessons he learned along the way are extremely helpful to readers.

5.  Beating the Street, by Peter Lynch.  These are some of the best personal anecdotes from a stock picking legend.  If you prefer investments in mutual funds, this is your book.  Find another Peter Lynch (if even possible) and ride it out!

6.  The Little Book That Beats The Market, by Joel Greenblatt.  If you ever want a method for investing in stocks, this is your book.  Mr. Greenblatt's system for stock picking is presented with simplicity.  The easiest book to read out of this collection.

7.  The Most Important Thing Illuminated, by Howard Marks.  The most elucidating book on risk I have ever read.  There's more of course, but this expounding on risk is what makes this a special book on stock investing.

Seven great books to pick up and read as soon as possible if you are serious about making money in the stock market.  They have set my foundation on solid ground and I'm 100% confident they will do the same for you.

Take care amigos!  See you next time.  If you liked this post, please don't leave without subscribing to this blog.