Investment books
-War Stories -

Analysis, commentary, and war stories about investments

These books offer "in the trenches" stories from finance insiders about the trading and investment world. They probably won't help you pick stocks, if you're interested in finance and markets they make fasinating reading. Update 8/16/2006

• Po Bronson
  
  Bombardiers

• Connie Bruck
  
  The Predators' Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the
  Rise of the Junk Bond Raiders

• Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
  
  Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

• Daniel Fischel
  
  Payback: The Conspiracy to Destroy Michael Milken and His
  Financial Revolution

• Edwin Lefevre
  
  Reminiscences of a Stock Operator top10pick fidelity
  As a young adult in the 1920s, Edward C. Johnson 2d developed a growing interest in the equity markets while watching his father act as trustee for several family trusts. His fascination with the markets increased after reading Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, which draws on inspiration from the life of legendary trader and speculator Jesse Livermore. Several years later, in 1943, Johnson became president and director of a small, Boston-based mutual fund, now called Fidelity Fund, which was the first investment fund managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company (1946) — today one of the world's largest and most-respected global research and investment firms.
  Although written more than 80 years ago, Reminiscences is repeatedly mentioned by traders as one of the best educational tools for trading. It reads like a trader's diary, but many traders believe the lessons included in the book are still relevant today.
  "This book remains one of my all-time favorites because every time I immerse myself in its pages, I am reminded of old lessons — plus, I always seem to learn something new," says Toni Turner, best-selling author of A Beginner's Guide to Short-term Trading and her latest, Short-Term Trading in the New Stock Market. "In today's markets, where educational materials become outdated quickly, it's a gratifying experience to read and reread Jesse Livermore's pithy yet enduring advice." Turner says one of her favorite lines from the book is the following: "A speculator must concern himself with making money out of the market and not with insisting that the tape must agree with him."
  John Carter, president of Trade the Markets, Inc. and author of Mastering the Trade, agrees. "This book is great because it's so timeless. While the book is based on trading that took place in the 1920s, it applies equally well to today's markets. It really shows that markets are all the same because they have one common element that hasn't changed with time — human nature. Once a person understands how to trade 'human nature,' then, and only then, can they consistently make a living speculating in the markets."
  

• Michael Lewis
  
  Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street

• Charles MacKay, Josef De La Vega, and Martin S. Fridson
  
  Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and
  Confusion De Confusiones

• Victor Niederhoffer
  
  The Education of a Speculator

• Jim Rogers
  
  Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers

• Robert J. Shiller
  
  Irrational Exuberance

• James B. Stewart
  
  Den of Thieves

If you can't find what you're looking for on Amazon.Com, you might check out The Trader's Library of Columbia, MD. a web site that has over 600 investment titles. http://www.traderslibrary.com