Recommended Reading
20,000 free books online
Our focus is on successful investing methods that are verifiable and well documented. Also featured are books with original ideas. We welcome your recommendations for the reading list.
How To Invest If You Can't Afford To Lose by Thomas Gleason (reviewed December 2007)
Perhaps the most useful book written for investors who can't afford to lose. If you need consistent and competitive yearly investment returns with low risk, then this is the book you've been waiting for. Easy to read and without any jargon, this book is a simple how-to for everyone. Stop paying investment advisors a percent of your assets and put that money into your own pocket. I recommend it very highly, as you'd expect!
The Single Best Investment by Lowell Miller (reviewed February 2008)
A how-to book on buying dividend paying stocks. Dividend stocks don't move in lockstep with the general indexes and provide higher returns over time than the market. Mr. Miller explains criteria to use to select stocks and is emphatic that investors shouldn't buy unless all the necessary facts and data are properly aligned. The writing style is a bit preachy, but the content is valuable and timeless. Dividend investing is the cure for hype - they can't fake a quarterly payout. A long history of increasing dividends and proper valuation are keys to profitable investing.
Unconventional
Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment by David Swensen
The highly successful manager of Yale's endowment fund shows how and why
to construct a portfolio using index funds for high risk-adjusted returns.
Swenson states directly that actively managed mutual funds should be avoided
due to high fees and conflict of interest. Written for the layman, this is the
best book on passive investment strategies we've ever read.
Contrarian
Investment Strategies by David Dreman.
Outstanding text on value investing with documented back testing that
shows what works over time. Read his column in Forbes.
Common
Sense on Mutual Funds by John Bogle
If you're a fund investor you need to read this book. Lays out the logic
for index fund investing and much more. Bogle's work at Vanguard has greatly
benefited investors.
Deflation:
How to Survive & Thrive in the Coming Wave of Deflation by A.
Gary Shilling
This is a superb book on what America faces over the next twenty years.
The author predicts deflation - not a disaster scenario. Thoroughly documented
and well written, this book is a class act. Deflation is the flip
side of inflation so the old strategies won't work. Read Shilling's column
on the Forbes web site for his current thinking.
Tomorrow's
Gold by Marc Faber
Faber works out of Hong Kong and is well known for his knowledge of emerging
markets. He makes a case for Asia's strong future in this book but the
parts we find most interesting are his historical perspectives on the
booms and busts of ideas, markets, and empires. Industries and nations
generally have a short time in the sun. Also, the Federal Reserve can
print money to stave off deflation but can't control where those dollars
end up and this will cause speculations.
All
About Market Timing by Leslie Masonson
An unexpectedly excellent book on what market timing is all about - controlling
risk. The author flatly states that buy and hold is for the naive. He
goes on to discuss several timing methods that are quite credible. We
are confident that many people would become better investors if they'd
spend a weekend with this one.
Practical
Speculation by Victor Niederhoffer and Laurel Kenner
A well paced volume discussing the author's hands-on experiences in the
world of speculation. Many insights into a scientific approach to investing.
He debunks popular but losing strategies and shows others that will work
for a lifetime.
Stock
Cycles: Why Stocks Won't Beat Money Markets over the Next Twenty Years
by Michael Alexander
An excellent work that analyzes the probability of stock returns over
the coming years. In those parts the book is original and often brilliant.
We're doubters about economic "longwaves" and things like Kondratief
cycles.
The
Mind of Wall Street by Leon Levy
The autobiography of the former top guy at Oppenheimer and one of the
richest people in America. About today's markets (August 2002):
1. The bubble still has not burst fully and stocks are still hugely overvalued.
The Naadaq will drop to 650 and other indexes will go back to early 1995
levels. 2. The coming recession will be the deepest since the Depression
3. The only thing that could hold up this economy would be a massive fiscal
expenditure program on the level of WWII (hence, the StarWars missile
program and wars about to start, we'd guess) 4. Devaluation of the dollar
won't work as other countries will follow suit. 5. The savings rate
in the US is 3% and will rise to the traditional 6-10%. Every 1% rise
cuts corporate profits by 10% 6. Sell stocks on strength
Off-Topic Favorites
As
It Is: The Open Secret to Living an Awakened Life by Tony Parsons
A wonderful book on "presence" that could add purpose to anyone's
existence. If it rings your bell, it could change your life.
How
to Be Invisible by J.J. Luna
This is a fun book and will raise your awareness of how easily you and
your assets can be tracked. The author has made an art of privacy
and anonymity. He discusses how to become untraceable by private investigators
and other snoopy types. Some of this may be for the truly paranoid but
it's good to know. I guarantee you, Mr. Luna would never sign up with
www.donotcall.gov using his real
email address since it would be trivial for the government to cross reference
his phone number to his email account. With the Patriot Act sucking up
every scrap of info on people maybe it's time to be more conscious of
these matters.
Dilemmas
of Dommination: The Unmaking of the American Empire by Walden Bello
A superb explanation of how American foreign policy and corporate goals
are intertwined. Explains why the American Empire is destined to contract.
America faces dangerous financial storms and constraints on global ambitions
due to a rising Asia. This book is a first-rate analysis and a real eye
opener.
Gematria / Revelation
Web Site
The author of this fascinating site states that many passages in the christian
gospels are actually written instructions for creating remarkable geometric
diagrams. A book will soon be published deciphering the Book of Revelation.
Many illustrations and explanations are provided on the site.
© 2007, Thomas Nogales Financial, LLC