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I borrowed a few books from the library (usually take them based on how I liked their covers and TOC). Out of 18 books so far, I like 3 that I'll share with you. I liked these enough to buy my own copy (in order of my reading):
1. Get Rich Carefully, Jim Kramer
This is the first book that I liked, and I'm glad because I was about to give up on read finance/econ books due to the many silly ones prior.
It centers on individual stock picking based on fundamentals, which matches the investment strategy I used for the last 20+ years. I like it because here's another person that thinks like me and validates what I have been doing. You can say it is "preaching to the choir" for me. (BTW, my wife thinks Kramer is a quack and my investment strategy is crazy. Just to give you another perspective.)
There are some parts that I don't agree, such as timing the market, which I don't do.
He also goes into technical trading, but he doesn't seem to know what to do about it (or want to follow its directions); which pertty much mirrors my experience too, i.e. we are agnostics here. haha.
2. 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Economics: From Securities and Derivatives to Interest Rates and Hedge Funds, the Basics of Economics and What They Mean for You, Peter Sander
This book is a dictionary, where it gives you basic definitions of 101 terms/ideas and a brief description on why it may affect you personally. (Ok, a few of its terms don't affect you, and it says so.) It is structured to read a lot better than Webster's where the terms are arranged in a decent order so that later terms builds upon prior ones.
The descriptions are so basic that it is not an actionable book. It gives you a high-level view of things and serves as a good basic knowledge. For example, on things that I already understand, the level of the book seem like for kindergarteners. But there are many terms I didn't know, so it works out ok.
It is a book that I think will make a great FIRST book into econ. I wished I started on this book instead of the others.
2. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy, Sowell.
This book may look big, but it reads like a novel. It is like the above 101 Things.. book but in more details with less terminology. The book seem to eschew econ terms so that everybody can understand it; but this also makes it a bit tedious to read. For example, you won't find the term credit default swaps here (which you know what it is from 101 Things...) but you'll know its effects and why in 30 pages.
I think it is trying to teach econ 101 to the common person. This will never be a text book because it is so wordy.
Have you ever tried to write technical instructions for your parents? you use 10 words to describe something that should only take 1, e.g. "reboot system" becomes "move mounse to windows icon on lower left corner...". That's what this book feels like. I can't help but think the author is Charles Dickens and gets paid by the number of words.
However, fortunately, the book flows well and is a fast read. You'd finish this book before you know it; reads like a novel.
1. Get Rich Carefully, Jim Kramer
This is the first book that I liked, and I'm glad because I was about to give up on read finance/econ books due to the many silly ones prior.
It centers on individual stock picking based on fundamentals, which matches the investment strategy I used for the last 20+ years. I like it because here's another person that thinks like me and validates what I have been doing. You can say it is "preaching to the choir" for me. (BTW, my wife thinks Kramer is a quack and my investment strategy is crazy. Just to give you another perspective.)
There are some parts that I don't agree, such as timing the market, which I don't do.
He also goes into technical trading, but he doesn't seem to know what to do about it (or want to follow its directions); which pertty much mirrors my experience too, i.e. we are agnostics here. haha.
2. 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Economics: From Securities and Derivatives to Interest Rates and Hedge Funds, the Basics of Economics and What They Mean for You, Peter Sander
This book is a dictionary, where it gives you basic definitions of 101 terms/ideas and a brief description on why it may affect you personally. (Ok, a few of its terms don't affect you, and it says so.) It is structured to read a lot better than Webster's where the terms are arranged in a decent order so that later terms builds upon prior ones.
The descriptions are so basic that it is not an actionable book. It gives you a high-level view of things and serves as a good basic knowledge. For example, on things that I already understand, the level of the book seem like for kindergarteners. But there are many terms I didn't know, so it works out ok.
It is a book that I think will make a great FIRST book into econ. I wished I started on this book instead of the others.
2. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy, Sowell.
This book may look big, but it reads like a novel. It is like the above 101 Things.. book but in more details with less terminology. The book seem to eschew econ terms so that everybody can understand it; but this also makes it a bit tedious to read. For example, you won't find the term credit default swaps here (which you know what it is from 101 Things...) but you'll know its effects and why in 30 pages.
I think it is trying to teach econ 101 to the common person. This will never be a text book because it is so wordy.
Have you ever tried to write technical instructions for your parents? you use 10 words to describe something that should only take 1, e.g. "reboot system" becomes "move mounse to windows icon on lower left corner...". That's what this book feels like. I can't help but think the author is Charles Dickens and gets paid by the number of words.
However, fortunately, the book flows well and is a fast read. You'd finish this book before you know it; reads like a novel.
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