Top 10 Stock Picking Books

This book stands head and shoulders above the great bulk of what I’ve read on the subject of stock investing. Much of what’s out there these days seems to have been written either for the gullible, get rich quick types or for those who have completely given up on trying to come out ahead of the pack and have resigned themselves to the boredom of simply buying and holding index funds. But this book’s premise is that the small individual investor actually can beat the market, not through some secret, author-discovered formula, but by applying logic, discipline, and a bit of effort. If you believe, as I do, that knowledge and diligence tend to be rewarded in the Market as in life generally, you’re going to like this book.

In a year around 40 to 50 books on trading are published, I read most of them, there are very few which have actionable trading ideas and can help you enhance your trading skills. Trade Like an O’Neil Disciple: How We Made 18,000% in the Stock Market is one of the best books I have read in recent years. I am already reading it second time and taking extensive notes.
If you are growth/ IBD/ momentum/ CANSLIM kind investor you will find practical ideas and some new ways of entering and exiting trades. You will also learn how explosive returns are possible under right circumstances using those methods.
The book also goes in to details of short selling and has couple of good short selling strategies.
The book is not for beginners and those looking for simple methods without much effort, you need to have some foundation about growth and momentum investing before appreciating and understanding it.
A must buy for growth/momentum investor who want explosive returns.

This is one of the “must read” books for anyone wanting to invest well, and gets 5 stars for that reason only. It is by and about Lynch and his legendary carreer @ Fidelity’s Magellan Fund, and the period Lynch knocked the cover off the ball hitting home run after home run for a long string of years.

A simple book with good strategies and common sense techniques on how to invest without getting your hands too dirty with fundamentals – basically let others do that work for you and spot their actions in the stock charts. Something that takes many investors years to figure out. The book is well written an a concise to the point manner.

I’ve read many fine books on handicapping and this one is probably the best of them all. A real easy read, its peppered with fascinating and often humerous anecdotes and rules of thumb.

Beyer first introduced his speed handicapping concept in this book, and he shows how to compute the now famous Beyer speed figures. Even though they’re available in the Form, its still good to know how they were derived.

At the time Beyer wrote this book, he focused most heavily on speed handicapping, and he would more thoroughly embrace other factors such as pace or trip handicapping later in his career. But he does at least touch on all facets of handicapping in this book, and either a beginner or expert will find it a informative and amusing read.

Josh’s key points are to start with 100 share blocks only, to limit exposure and build skill. Do not move above this amount until you have been successful for months, then only increase trade size very gradually. You can make money trading 100 shares at a time through out the day. This also keeps your emotions under control when no one trade has to much riding on it. Use preset stop losses if your trade goes against you. Most amateurs make the mistake of stubbornly holding losing positions or even increase their position on the way down, this can be disastrous. The key to day trading success is consistency, making the money you need daily, by having a great win ratio.

The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing” is a guide to value investing by Morningstar’s Director of Stock Analysis Pat Dorsey and the folks at Morningstar, Inc. The book’s goal is to educate investors in how to “find wonderful businesses and purchase them at reasonable prices.” Its title is a little misleading in that the “Five Rules” are a small part of this book. The five principles to which the title refers are: 1. Do your homework, 2. Find companies with strong competitive advantages (or economic moats), 3. Have a margin of safety, 4. Hold for the long term, 5. Know when to sell. Those are vague principles, but most of this book is dedicated to telling you just what homework you need to do and exactly how to do it. Pat Dorsey and Morningstar are advocates of long-term investing who are skeptical of trading and portfolio churning, so this book’s intended audience is value investors. No technical analysis here. This is all fundamental analysis, but traders may find the advice on analyzing company finances useful as well.

Perhaps the best part of using the gorilla game as an investment strategy is that it is a low maintenance strategy, letting you make money without biting your fingernails on a daily basis. The hard part is finding new gorillas–in many sectors they may never develop.

Legendary billionaire Warren Buffett is considered by many to be the world’s greatest value investor. “How To Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett” is a book that guides the ordinary investor though Buffett’s methods to profit using his bargain hunting strategies.

The path to superior returns in the stock market is to anticipate changes in investor expectations. The multi-million question is how to do that.

An investor needs to realize the market is made up of 2 broad groups: retail investors (little guys like you and me) and big insitutions (mutual funds, insurance companies, hedge funds, etc.).

Big institutions drive market movements. The people responsible for these market movements have the same professional training, and tend to think alike. They focus primarily on reports provided by the analysts at major brokerages.

Many novice retail investors look at an analyst recommendation and mistakenly believe it is profitable to act on it. This book demonstrates why this is the way to the poorhouse.