📚 Education — Books

Books are listed in the order they were added — newest first. The order carries no other significance.
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Poor Charlie's Almanack
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Poor Charlie's Almanack
by Charles T. Munger
The wit and wisdom of Buffett's long-time partner. A framework for multi-disciplinary thinking through mental models spanning physics, biology, economics, and psychology. There is no better guide to building a latticework of ideas.
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
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Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
by Roger Lowenstein
Since its hardcover publication in August of 1995, Buffett has appeared on the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Newsday and Business Week bestseller lists. Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Warren Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the twentieth century—an astounding net worth of $10 billion, and counting. His awesome investment record has made him a cult figure popularly known for his seeming contradictions: a billionaire who has a modest lifestyle, a phenomenally successful investor who eschews the revolving-door trading of modern Wall Street, a brilliant dealmaker who cultivates a homespun aura. Journalist Roger Lowenstein draws on three years of unprecedented access to Buffett’s family, friends, and colleagues to provide the first definitive, inside account of the life and career of this American original. Buffett explains Buffett’s investment strategy—a long-term philosophy grounded in buying stock in companies that are undervalued on the market and hanging on until their worth invariably surfaces—and shows how it is a reflection of his inner self.
Den of Thieves
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Den of Thieves
by James B. Stewart
Stewart's Pulitzer Prize-winning account of the insider trading scandal of the 1980s: Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine. The most comprehensive narrative of how junk bonds, leveraged buyouts, and corrupt information networks nearly corrupted the entire securities market.
The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
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The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future
by Sebastian Mallaby
Mallaby's definitive history of venture capital from its origins in postwar America to the dominance of Silicon Valley. The story of how a small group of investors -- Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Benchmark -- shaped the technology industry and why the power law of returns that governs VC explains so much about how innovation actually works.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
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The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
by Michael Lewis
Lewis follows the handful of investors who saw the 2008 financial crisis coming and bet against the mortgage market. A devastating portrait of the stupidity, corruption, and willful blindness that nearly destroyed the global financial system -- told through some of the most eccentric characters in Wall Street history.
Liar's Poker
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Liar's Poker
by Michael Lewis
Lewis's first-person account of his years at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s -- the firm that invented mortgage bonds and defined the era of Wall Street excess. The funniest and sharpest memoir ever written about the bond markets, and still the best account of what investment banking actually is.
Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
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Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
by David F. Swensen
Yale's legendary endowment manager turns his attention to individual investors. Swensen's conclusion is unsparing: the mutual fund industry is structurally designed to enrich managers at investors' expense. His prescription -- low-cost index funds in a diversified, rebalanced portfolio -- is the most credible framework for the non-institutional investor.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street
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A Random Walk Down Wall Street
by Burton G. Malkiel
Malkiel's classic case for the efficient market hypothesis and index fund investing. The argument that stock prices follow a random walk -- and that no analyst or fund manager can consistently beat the market -- remains the most important challenge any active investor must grapple with.
When Markets Collide
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When Markets Collide
by Mohamed El-Erian
El-Erian's prescient account of the structural transformation of the global economy written at the dawn of the 2008 crisis. His framework for navigating a world of shifting growth engines, sovereign wealth funds, and new financial fault lines remains essential reading for macro investors.
Why Stocks Go Up and Down
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Why Stocks Go Up and Down
by William H. Pike & Patrick G. Gregory
A foundational primer on how equity markets actually work. Pike and Gregory explain the mechanics of stock valuation, corporate finance, and market behavior with unusual clarity -- the kind of first-principles grounding that every investor needs before touching anything more advanced.
More Money Than God
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More Money Than God
by Sebastian Mallaby
The definitive history of hedge funds from their origins to the financial crisis. Mallaby's account of how the greatest macro and quant traders built their edge is the best window into professional money management ever written.
Winning the Loser's Game
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Winning the Loser's Game
by Charles D. Ellis
Ellis argues that investing is a loser's game where the average active manager loses to the index. His framework for understanding the mathematics of costs and the futility of market timing is essential reading.
Common Sense on Mutual Funds
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Common Sense on Mutual Funds
by John C. Bogle
Bogle's definitive case for low-cost index fund investing. The founder of Vanguard presents an overwhelming empirical argument that most active managers underperform the index after costs, and explains why.
The Dhandho Investor
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The Dhandho Investor
by Mohnish Pabrai
Pabrai distills the Dhandho framework of low-risk, high-uncertainty investing: heads I win, tails I don't lose much. A practical application of Buffett and Munger principles for the individual investor.
Learn to Earn
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Learn to Earn
by Peter Lynch & John Rothchild
Lynch's accessible introduction to investing and capitalism for beginners. A history of business and the stock market that explains why companies go public and how investors benefit.
Beating the Street
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Beating the Street
by Peter Lynch
Lynch's follow-up, explaining how he managed the Magellan Fund to 29% annual returns. A practical walk through his stock selection process with real examples from his portfolio.
One Up on Wall Street
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One Up on Wall Street
by Peter Lynch
Lynch's accessible guide to stock investing from the legendary Fidelity fund manager. His framework for finding ten-baggers by observing everyday life made stock-picking approachable for a generation of investors.
Simple But Not Easy
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Simple But Not Easy
by Richard Oldfield
Oldfield's honest and uncommon guide to investment management — covering why sound investment principles are simple to understand but nearly impossible to consistently apply in practice.
The Future for Investors
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The Future for Investors
by Jeremy J. Siegel
Siegel examines which kinds of stocks actually outperform over the long run — often not the fastest-growing companies but reliable, dividend-paying stalwarts. A counterintuitive case against chasing growth.
Stocks for the Long Run
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Stocks for the Long Run
by Jeremy J. Siegel
Siegel's comprehensive empirical case for equity investing, backed by over 200 years of data across markets. The historical bedrock of the argument for long-term stock ownership over bonds and cash.
Pioneering Portfolio Management
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Pioneering Portfolio Management
by David F. Swensen
Swensen's guide to institutional investing from Yale's legendary endowment manager. Established the endowment model — diversification across alternative assets that is now standard among the world's largest institutions.
The Alchemy of Finance
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The Alchemy of Finance
by George Soros
Soros explains his theory of reflexivity — how market participants' biased views influence the very fundamentals they're supposed to reflect. A window into one of the greatest macro speculative minds of the 20th century.
Margin of Safety
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Margin of Safety
by Seth A. Klarman
Klarman's legendary out-of-print guide to risk-averse value investing. Only ~5,000 copies printed; used copies sell for thousands. The definitive framework for protecting capital from one of the greatest living value investors.
Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks
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Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks
by Philip A. Fisher
Fisher's follow-up, expanding his framework for identifying companies with exceptional long-term growth potential and the management quality that sustains it.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
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Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
by Philip A. Fisher
Fisher's framework for identifying great growth companies through scuttlebutt research and qualitative analysis. The foundation of growth investing — the indispensable complement to Graham's quantitative approach.
Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders
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Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders
by Warren Buffett
Buffett's annual letters spanning six decades — the most accessible investing education ever written, straight from the source. Every page is a lesson in business, valuation, and rational thinking.
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
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Reminiscences of a Stock Operator
by Edwin Lefèvre
The fictionalized biography of Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest traders of the 20th century. Still the most insightful account of market psychology ever written — nothing has come close in a hundred years.
Mastering the Market Cycle
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Mastering the Market Cycle
by Howard Marks
Marks explains how market cycles work, why they recur regardless of policy or technology, and how to position a portfolio in relation to where we stand in the cycle.
The Most Important Thing
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The Most Important Thing
by Howard Marks
Marks' distillation of a career in investing. The single best explanation of second-level thinking and risk in investment management. Twenty "most important things," each essential in its own right.
The Dark Side of Valuation
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The Dark Side of Valuation
by Aswath Damodaran
Damodaran tackles the valuation of difficult-to-value companies — high-growth startups, cyclicals, financial firms, and intangible-heavy businesses. Essential for any modern equity investor.
Applied Corporate Finance
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Applied Corporate Finance
by Aswath Damodaran
Damodaran bridges theory and practice in corporate financial decision-making — capital structure, dividend policy, value creation, and real-world application of finance principles.
Investment Valuation
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Investment Valuation
by Aswath Damodaran
Damodaran's comprehensive textbook on valuing any asset — DCF, relative valuation, real options. The technical foundation for serious equity analysis and the most thorough treatment of valuation in print.
Security Analysis
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Security Analysis
by Benjamin Graham & David Dodd
The bible of value investing, first published in 1934. A systematic framework for analyzing securities with rigor and discipline that has withstood every market cycle since the Great Depression.
The Intelligent Investor
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The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham
The definitive guide to value investing. Graham's framework for Mr. Market and margin of safety is the foundation of every serious investor's approach. Buffett calls it "the best book about investing ever written."
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