Harper Perennial, 2010, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 5
This is an important book. In Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely highlights how our cognitive machinery frequently results in irrational behaviour. The book is an amalgate of experimental psychology and economics, with various practical applications. Ariely is a professor in Behavioural... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Harvard Business Review Press, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 3
This is a solid book. It’s not an investor relations handbook but rather an experienced professor giving advice to CEOs and corporate managers on how to view and handle the stock market. Baruch Lev is a professor in accounting and finance at Stern School of Business. He has also... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
HBR Press, 2012, [Business] Grade 4
William Thorndike has done the world of skilled but less-than-flamboyant CEOs and long-term investors alike a massive favour. Via eight years of painstaking research in collaboration with Harvard Business School students – one year per CEO/company studied – Thorndike has... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Random House, 2012, [Behavioural Finance] Grade 3
Not many authors are as fearless and eloquent advocates of their views. That makes Nassim Taleb a thought-provoking author. Taleb regards himself as both a trader and philosopher. He is a household name in the investing world and was propelled into fame with his two books Black... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, [Finance] Grade 3
I’m of the firm opinion that all participants in the financial markets need a set of investment beliefs structured into an investment philosophy. That is, they need a view on how markets work and how money is to be made according to this. Why? Because to get an edge a firm must act... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
John Wiley & Sons, 2013, [Finance] Grade 3
I was excited when I first heard about this book. This is for two reasons. A new book from Jack Schwager is always something to look forward to. He has done the Investment Management industry tremendous service through his educational and entertaining in-depth interviews with... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
McGraw-Hill, 2013, [Finance] Grade 4
On the final interview with the department heads of the bank where I was shooting for a position as an assistant portfolio manager 15 years ago, I was asked what I first look for in an annual report. I immediately answered “the shareholder letter”. It still is. Being a CEO letter junkie, the... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
John Wiley & Sons, 2012, [Finance] Grade 4
This is John Bogle’s tenth book and he surely does celebrate in style. I have read most of Mr Bogle’s books and The Clash of the Cultures is definitely the one that most resembles being a living person’s testament. Experiences, battles, triumphs and insights from over sixty years within... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
John Wiley & Sons, 2011, [Equity Investing] Grade 4
Was Ben Graham really a quant? Yes, in some respects. He surely formulated lists with quality and valuation criteria that a prospective investment would have to pass. Graham also shared the quants basic premise that history gives guidance to the future. With an academic background in... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Profile Book Ltd, 2009, [Business] Grade 4
Frank Partnoy is a Professor of Law and Finance and he is an expert in complex financial structures and regulation. Before becoming a professor he worked on Wall Street and wrote F.I.A.S.C.O about his experiences during the 90’s. Besides writing several other books, he works... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
W.W. Norton & Co, 1st ed 1954, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 4
It ain't so much the things we don´t know that gets us into trouble. It´s the things we know that just ain´t so. These words by Artemus Ward have for a long time held a prime place on my desk, its true wisdom reaching far beyond the simple-minded language. How To Lie With Statistics could... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Crown Business, 2011, [Business] Grade 5
This book on strategy is a new favorite of mine. I bought it six months ago and have already reread it twice. I resisted buying it for over a year because of the title but now after reading it, I have come to appreciate the title. The Bad strategy-part is a long awaited, elegantly expressed... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
DV Books, 2010, [Economics] Grade 3
Economies are more fragile and volatile, and recessions will be more frequent after a credit crisis than during more “normal” supply-demand cycles (a.k.a. inventory-led). That much is near certain. To add insult the aftermaths of the credit crisis of our time will take place during the “Nervous... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
John Wiley & Sons, 2011 2nd ed, [Equity Investing] Grade 5
Now and then over the last two years the positions of David Einhorn have been a part of the pitch when I meet sell side analysts. Ever since Einhorn publicly presented Lehman as a short case and Lehman subsequently blew up, the founder of Greenlight Capital has been a household... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
The University of Chicago Press, 1962, [Economics] Grade 5
In the post-Lehman world Milton Friedman has regained his 1970’s role as someone to scare children with. In reality the writing of a Friedman, or for that matter a Keynes, is much more nuanced and diverse than their adversaries would probably want it to be. The monetarist... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
John Wiley, 2012, [Finance] Grade 3
Maneet Ahuja has come from almost nowhere to fame after writing The Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World's Top Hedge Funds describing the most famous hedge fund managers globally. Her ability to get access to these gentlemen and making interviews full of insights is... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Penguin Hall, 2012, [Surrounding Knowledge] Grade 3
Nate Silver became famous due to his innovative use of statistics in baseball followed, by correctly predicting the results of 49 out of 50 states in the 2008 election (50 out of 50 in 2012). In 2008 Silver launched his website FiveThirtyEight.com. In 2009 he was named one of The... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011, [Behavioural Finance] Grade 4
The author of this book won The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his prospect theory. However this book was written after that with the prospect of getting him a wider audience. He was very sceptical of whether he was going to be successful with this or not... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
McGraw-Hill, 2000 2nd ed, [Finance] Grade 5
Academic financial text books have, to a large extent, focused on beta and the so called efficient market. Active Portfolio Management was groundbreaking when it was first published in 1994 as instead it was devoted to the practical process of generating alpha from a quantative angle... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
Bloomsbury Press, 2012, [Economics] Grade 4
After a lot of research and 42 lengthy interviews with the subject of this book Mr William L. Silber, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, has a better understanding than most of two major economic events; the introduction of fiat currencies (The Nixon chock 1971) and the... Further reading... Link to Amazon...
