Recommended Reading for Stock Market Investing
Books to help your understanding of Warren Buffetts methods, and also general stock market investment education.
“How Buffett Does It,” (2005) by James Pardoe, Attorney and Buffett student. In 154 pages it is the most concise summary of Buffett’s investing principles that I have found in print. Mr. Pardoe was also ignorant of the software we use at a profit, so he suggests reading the Wall Street Journal to keep abreast of business news, etc. Of course we recommend being well informed; but we agree with Philip A. Fisher that one should have a few stocks that the owner can focus on. We use the software to sort for the best performing stocks and then read about them. It’s part of due diligence and saves a lot of time. If you want to read a lot of great Buffett quotes and the essence of his hugely successful investment principles, read this powerful little book.
“The Warren Buffett Way,” by Robert G. Hagstrom, get the 2nd edition. Pity Hagstrom didn’t know about our software… The book does discuss Mr. Buffett and his unique way in an easy to understand journalistic style. It opened my eyes and my mind. Thanks to Mr. Hagstrom I’m making a profit from my recliner.
“Becoming Rich…” by Mark Tier. It ends with a chapter on the late Harry Browne’s very conservative plan to not lose any value nor gain much either. I’ve been in communication with author Tier and he now knows about this software, but I don’t think he’s going to write a new chapter in the near future. Even with the lack of computer-aided mention, the book is important for attitude adjustment. I also believe that our attitudes are the only things under our control.
“Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings,” by Philip A. Fisher (1958), New Preface and Introduction by Kenneth L. Fisher (2003). An earlier but not so wealthy Buffett. Phil Fisher was another commonsense investor who did his own research and made his own decisions. His son, Kenneth has also been successful in the market and in writing and teaching. Both men are easy to read. I adopted the name of my website, “Focused Investing” from Fisher the elder. He said to hold only a few stocks so the investor could focus on those few companies and be able to understand them and their customers and their competition. It makes perfect sense to me.
“The Intelligent Investor,” Benjamin Graham (1934) Ben Graham was a mentor to the young Warren Buffett, but Buffett has surpassed his teacher. This book is a bit stilted 70+ years later, but it is still a landmark in modern investment practices.
The New Buffettology: The Proven Techniques for Investing Successfully in Changing Markets That Have Made WARREN BUFFETT the World’s Most Famous Investor,” by Mary Buffett and David Clark (2002) The same authors have also written “Buffettology,” (1997) and the “Buffettology Workbook,” (2001) You don't need the Workbook, just “The New Buffettology”. It’s a run through of the same text from Buffettology, with the addition of some blank space, it’s an 8.5 by 10 paperback, so the reader can practice by answering some quizzes and doing some arithmetic with the recommended Texas Instruments TA35 Solar Calculator.
Mary is the divorced wife of Peter Buffett, one of Warren’s sons. Sorry about that but the TA35 is as obsolete as my 1972 Datamath. She writes, with Mr. Clark, a very readable set of books about the Oracle of Omaha, but they never mention the modern PC and the internet’s flood of data, or the computer programs, such as the one we use, that makes 99% of all those pocket calculator and pencil problems unnecessary. Today we have MS Word© and MS Excel© which make communicating and calculating much faster and easier with no pencils, no erasers and no carbon paper and no white-out fluid.
Here’s some great news!
You don’t have to read all of those books to get started. I’ve read them all, and many more besides. They all talk about what Mr. Buffett has done and is doing, except for Mark Tier, who discusses how you should adjust your attitude to become rich. None of them tell you what precise steps to take to shake the whole Haystack and sort out the Golden Needles.
Only a software/database can do this under your control.
And I represent just such a combined package. Sure it’s always to your advantage to be knowledgeable, so read what you like when you can. But if you can read a thermometer you can evaluate the performance of companies with this particular software.
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