Investing.
Buy the business, not the ticker.
Value, growth, and index investing all chase the same question in different ways — what's this business actually worth, and what should you pay for it? Graham's case: buy below that number, then wait. Bogle's case: skip the question entirely, buy the whole market, and let time do the work.
◈ Brian's Picks
All Investing
174 titles
A History of the United States in Five Crashes: Stock Market Meltdowns That Defined a Nation
100 Baggers: Stocks That Return 100-to-1 and How To Find Them
There's Always Something to Do: The Peter Cundill Investment Approach
Invest like a shark
A mathematician plays the stock market
The encyclopedia of technical market indicators
Technical analysis from A to Z
The Buffettology workbook
Bull Run
How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
Inefficient Markets
Investing 101
Irrational Exuberance
Latticework
24 Essential Lessons for Investment Success
A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street
Technical analysis for the trading professional
Contrarian investment strategies
Convertible securities
It was a very good year
The overspent American
Spin-off to pay-off
The art of short selling
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings
◈ Investing FAQ
What's the difference between value investing and growth investing?
Value investing means buying businesses trading below what the company is worth — a discipline built on Benjamin Graham's margin-of-safety framework. Growth investing means paying a premium for a business expected to compound revenue and earnings faster than the market, betting the growth justifies the price. Most investing books argue for one lens or a blend of both.
Should I read an investing book before I open a brokerage account?
It helps. One well-chosen book gives you a framework for thinking about risk and price before you're staring at a live account balance. You don't need to read a dozen books first — a solid foundation text plus a willingness to keep learning is enough to start.
Is index investing better than picking individual stocks?
For most individual investors, a low-cost index fund tends to outperform stock-picking on a risk-adjusted, after-fee basis over time — that's the core case John Bogle and the index-investing canon make. Stock-picking books make the counter-case that concentrated, research-driven positions can beat the index, but they also demand more time and discipline than most investors sustain.
What's a good first investing book for a complete beginner?
Start with Brian's Picks in this category, above — they're the investing titles selected specifically because they hold up for a first-time reader, not because they're the newest release.