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27 Must-Read Books For Investors


August 21, 2013

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A truly good book teaches me more than to just read it. I must soon
lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I
must finish by acting. Henry David Thoreau
Tannor Pilatzke
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reading them. Ray Bradbury

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investing, learning from the very best. I have been reading relentlessly

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as I always do, but even more so now that the beautiful weather has arrived and my school
break is still in full effect. I have read a lot of books in the recent years, most related to
investing, psychology, business, (auto)biographies and economics; these are the ones that
come to mind effortlessly.

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About the author:


Tannor Pilatzke
I am a self taught investor through Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Ben Graham, Peter
Lynch, Joel Greenblatt, David Einhorn, Seth Klarman, Howard Marks, Phillip Fisher and
Thornton O'Glove. My focus is a bottoms up Value-GARP strategy with a mix of top down
contrarianism.
"When you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark
Twain
Visit Tannor Pilatzke's Website

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Comments
Cubsfan

- 1 year ago

Great list - Greenblatt's books are my favorites.


I've just completed a new one you should look at - I think this one is similar to
"You Can Be a Stock Market Genius" - in that it has very practical and actionable
ideas
on where to look for value. It's definitely in my Top 10.
The author is John Mihaljevic, the book is "The Manual of Ideas: The Proven
Framework for
Finding the Best Value Investments".
Tannor

- 1 year ago

Thanks,
I agree and really enjoy Joel Greenblatt's writing. I have seen "The Manual of
Ideas: The Proven Framework for Finding the Best Value Investments" but have
not read it. I will check it out.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Hpmst3 - 1 year ago

Hpmst3 - 1 year ago

Tannor

- 1 year ago

Awesome list I will definitely pick more than a few out to read. Is that all the
business books that you have read over the years. Extensive list to say the least!
Hpmst3 - 1 year ago

Hpmst3 - 1 year ago

Hpmst3 - 1 year ago

AlbertaSunwapta - 1 year ago

I've read a lot of investment books but to read all those above one would have to
abstain from having a life for quite a while.

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Batbeer2

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- 1 year ago

'At some point you have to stop learning and start thinking'.
Brilliant!
Vgm - 1 year ago

To the above lists and suggestions, I'd add "When Money Dies: The nightmare of
deficit spending, devaluation and hyperinflation in Weimar Germany" by Adam
Ferguson
It was first published in 1975 and was re-published/rediscovered during the recent
crisis, gaining a certain cult status. It's a remarkable and dramatic read about how
a nation was destroyed by the (hyper)inflation which resulted from huge and
persistent deficit financing (quantitative easing).
I was surprised no-one mentioned "The Outsiders" by WN Thorndike. Strongly
recommended by Buffett. I learned a great deal about the workings of great
businesses from it.
I've heard alot of good things about the John Mihaljevic (Manual of Ideas) book
mentioned by Cubsfan above and look forward to reading it.
Thanks for the stimulation, Tannor!
Tannor

- 1 year ago

No problem and thanks for the recommendations Vgm. I agree that those are very
large lists but some interesting reads my be hand picked.
I love the quote above, "At some point you must stop learning and start thinking."
Only so much can be read the rest must be learned through experience and
process.
Vgm - 1 year ago

It might be worth observing that reading and thinking are not necessarily mutually
exclusive.
At one extreme, we can read simply to understand content. On a more profound
level, we can read with a view to really absorbing concepts on a much deeper
level, fully appreciating them and becoming aware of how we might apply them. A
fertile mind will be creating (ie, thinking) as it reads.
The application of those deeply ingrained concepts then becomes all the more
powerful when we do apply them to real life situations - investing in this case.
Correspondingly, if we read superficially, the application will likewise be superficial
when we do start to "think" and we will have limited ourselves.
Parodying Buffett, I might even say that reading and thinking are joined at the hip!
Batbeer2

- 1 year ago

>> It might be worth observing that reading and thinking are not necessarily
mutually exclusive.
Yes. Then again, I believe there are too many people who memorise books and
use that as a substitute for thinking. The results can be disastrous.

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Koheleth - 1 year ago

Amen.
Read, observe and learn. Always learning, but learn to think. Take time to think.
And act (or not).
As another classic puts it:
"And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end;
and much study is a weariness of the flesh." (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

Vgm - 1 year ago

"there are too many people who memorise books and use that as a substitute for
thinking."
Batbeer -- Yes, agreed, and I was very careful not to talk about "memorising" but
rather to stress the concept of 'thinking deeply' to really understand and absorb
underlying concepts to then be able to apply them. Memorising may get us through
exams in school, but never through life. It's quite distinct from thinking.
Vgm - 1 year ago

"Most people would rather die than think; many do."


Bertrand Russell
Batbeer2

- 1 year ago

>> "And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no


end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." (Ecclesiastes 12:12)"
LOL, thanks!
Hpmst3 - 1 year ago

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