CMV Reading List: The Basics

If you read only one book about investing in your lifetime, make it this one. Malkiel covers efficient market hypothesis, emphasizing that individual investors cannot consistently outperform the market through stock picking or market timing, and instead advocates for a long-term, diversified investment strategy, particularly through index funds. The book counsels readers on understanding risk and reward, the importance of asset allocation, the value of dollar-cost averaging, and the impact of psychological biases on investment decisions.

Offers timeless insights into market psychology, speculation, and the behavioral forces driving price movements. Though written a century ago, its lessons on greed, fear, crowd behavior, and the dangers of leverage remain central to understanding how markets deviate from fundamental value. Plus it's just hilarious.

A clear overview on why mastering investing has more to do with overcoming your own cognitive biases than in having any particular aptitude at market insights, clairvoyance, etc. Successful investing isn't about math, or even about knowing which stocks will go up, it's mainly just about getting out of your own head.

The best introductory book we've seen on central banking. The book highlights fundamental concepts such as monetary policy, interest rates, the banking system, and the effects of these factors on the economy, providing readers with a comprehensive high-level understanding of central banking functions. The book shines in how accessible it makes these complex topics. If you want to know what money really is, where it comes from, and how the plumbing of it comes together, this is the best book to get started.

Excellent introduction to financial statement analysis. Understanding these statements (balance sheet, incomes statements, cash flows statement) are critical to value investing - Ittelson provides a great overview of each.

Another analysis in how investing is as much about character and patience as it is about analysis.