please recommend good long term fundamental-based investing books...

Discussion in 'Educational Resources' started by mizhael, Jun 28, 2009.

  1. Cutten

    Cutten

    Until you have read all the books on this thread at least twice, and taken copious notes of all the main points in each book, you aren't really ready to start investing in stocks. Best to just buy an index-tracker, which takes about 30 seconds work and will most likely outperform your own stock-picking efforts until you become skilled and experienced.
     
    #21     Jun 29, 2009
  2. Mizhael, what is your education and professional background?
     
    #22     Jun 29, 2009
  3. drcha

    drcha

    I was an investor for about 20 years before I became a trader, so perhaps I can help.

    I would suggest Jeremy Siegel's books. I think his latest is The Future for Investors. Also Roger Gibson's book on asset allocation is excellent. Asset allocation is more important than stock selection. You can get very broad asset allocation by using ETFs.

    Consider joining the American Association of Individual Investors. They sell some inexpensive programs (like $300 for a year) that pick stocks by numerous different methods, all of which are explained.

    Another good stock selection service is vectorvest.com. This is what I mostly use at the moment. When the market turns bad, it can also help you choose some shorts if you want to do that. It is about $50 per month and definitely worth it. Like AAII, there are numerous built-in screens that are defined and explained--no black boxes. There are also local user groups in most cities that are fun to attend.

    I echo the positive sentiments for William O'Neill's books. However, he writes about medium term trading, not really long term investing, and his Web site does not provide the nice screens that vectorvest.com has. His approach takes both fundamentals and technicals into consideration, though, which is smart. There are always plenty of stocks with good fundamentals--why not find those that have good technicals as well?

    Whatever you do, stay away from Morningstar. They might be okay for picking funds, but not for stocks. I used them a few years ago, and found that their selections and analysis were weak. If you can't even pick stocks in a bull market, then you can't pick stocks. Also avoid Motley Fool. IMHO their fool caps are just the right attire for them--they have no idea what they are doing.

    Finally, I strongly encourage you to learn about options, which can substantially increase your returns. Contrary to the Wall Street hype, there are conservative and smart ways to use them. The Rookie's Guide to Options by Mark Wolfinger is the best introduction out there.

    Good luck!!
     
    #23     Jul 1, 2009