Recommended Reading.

Tender Hoop

I'm interested in getting into some sort of trading and investments. I understand that there is a lot to learn and that I should not rush into things so I have decided to read/study as much as I can for a year before I even consider putting any money in.

I have opened up a simulated account to try to get a better understanding of how the markets work without having to put any money down.

I have also bought a years subscription to the Investors Chronicle.

I have also bought a number of books namely;

Trading for dummies

A random walk down wall street

How to read the financial pages

Do any experienced trader on this forum recommend any other book I should read? Do you think my subscription to investors chronicle was a good investment??

Any advice is much appreciated.

REFLINE1

Am by know means a seasoned investor but even as a beginner i found the following books excellent.

A random walk down Wall Street-
Reminiscences of a stock operator-Edwin Lefevre
The New Market wizards-Jack .D. Schwager

pocketdooz

Tender Hoop wrote: »

I'm interested in getting into some sort of trading and investments. I understand that there is a lot to learn and that I should not rush into things so I have decided to read/study as much as I can for a year before I even consider putting any money in.

I have opened up a simulated account to try to get a better understanding of how the markets work without having to put any money down.

I have also bought a years subscription to the Investors Chronicle.

I have also bought a number of books namely;

Trading for dummies

A random walk down wall street

How to read the financial pages

Do any experienced trader on this forum recommend any other book I should read? Do you think my subscription to investors chronicle was a good investment??

Any advice is much appreciated.

The Warren Buffett Way is a great place to start.

Also, when starting to invest, pick an industry you understand or are interested in. Don't try and value the whole universe; it's not going to work. If you are interested in travel, hotels, sports, medicine or whatever - pick that industry to start with. Find out who all the public companies are (google.com/finance will help you) - find out who are doing well, who are valued highest (as a multiple of earnings, not just the biggest) and try and find out why. There are millions of places online where you can find out this info for free.

Then go to the Investor Relations page of the companies' websites, download the financials and presentations and read them. Figure out how the company makes money, if they are burdened by debt, if the are taking or losing market share, if they have very well known, strong competitors or not, what markets they are in ... etc. If you don't know how to read a set of financial accounts (P&L, B/S and CF statement) then you are in the dark and should immediately figure it out - it's not that hard at all.

Then start to build up an understanding of that particular industry and how it works. That way you can have opinions on which companies in that industry have potential, which are dying, which have too much debt, which are exposed to fast growing markets etc. Then you can have an opinion on which ones are under or overvalued relative to competitors and use that info to invest.

That should be your starting point and over time you can build out your knowledge. So, if you start looking at tech companies or healthcare companies without knowing anything about computers/networks or medicine ... you will get bored, frustrated and give up too quickly.

Best of luck and repost with any questions.

willietherock

I'm a bit like yourself, trying to educate myself from a non-business background. I think its important not to read too much or you'll get completely bogged down in a mountain of info.

Some of the stuff I found good were John Kay's The Long and the Short of it and Glen Arnold's Financial Times Guide to Investing. These are both v general guides to whats out there.

William Bernstein gives some v good general info on the history of investing in the likes A Spendid Exchange and offers a good grounding on the swings and roundabouts involved.

displaced dub

i bought The Intelligent Investor and its sitting here beside me in my office and i am ashamed to say i havent read a page of it because ive been too busy with work.

do all the stuff Pocket is talking about and dont make my mistake of jumping in without fully understanding what it is you are doing.

best of luck

RoadKillTs

Fool is a great resource. Lots of useful info and articles.
Link here to an article they did on how to read an annual report.

InReality

fooled by randomness.

GeorgeH

Have a look at Introduction to Equity Markets by David Dasey (Griffin Guide Series). I've read it & done a short review at:

http://ie.linkedin.com/pub/george-hannan/16/ba5/521

If you are not on LinkedIn you may have to sign up to view my book reviews, but it's free & great for business/employment networking.
I would suggest then look at some information on investment portfolio building. I did a post at:

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=134305 under Anfear.

Best of luck, George

D-Generate

As already mentioned "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre
It might be old but it has timeless advice and is also a good entertaining read! A lot of the advice he gives might seem like common sense but its remarkable how little people stick to common sense when trading.

Also as entertaining reads are "Liars Poker" by Michael Lewis and most of Michael Lewis' books such as "Panic" and "The Big Short". They are not particularly full of information about methods to trade but there is some wisdom to take from the books.

arrowloopboy

If you only read one book read ,Trading in the Zone,by mark douglas.

You should try master one type of trading,have a look at Forex,it may suite you it may not,the only thing i trade is eur/usd ,when you just trade one share/commodity/currencie ,you get to know what makes them tick and where their lightly to be going.

Happy hunting,

Arrow