stock investing book suggestions

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stock investing book suggestions

Patrick McGowen
Investor · Belgrade, MT · Member since 2013 · 135 posts · 32 votes

I know this is real estate forum, but I am looking for good suggestions on stock market investing book(s). I figure suggestions from this group are less likely to follow typical financial advice of buy and hold mutual funds in an IRA (or some similar mediocre approach).

Here is the reason. My teenage son wants to invest in stocks. He was given some Disney stock as a gift about 10 years ago. This has been great as he tracks the price, sees the dividend each year, etc. Along with these stocks and consistently saving 10% of any money he earns, he has a little to work with (about $1500). With the stock market probably being overpriced I suggested he take a more active role in investing. No time like the present to start learning and why not make mistakes now when his losses will be small. Since I am real estate focused, we started reading Scruggs book on mobile homes together and I was going to help him get into his first real estate investment with a local mobile home. We got about half way through the book and have come to realization that he is just not interested in real estate and wants to invest in stocks. So many strategies, penny stocks, day trading, options… I have very little knowledge of stocks and want to get a good book or two for him to learn on his own.

How do I educate my son on stock investing? Please help.

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Suzie Remilien
Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 149 posts · 58 votes
12y

@Patrick McGowen I recently compiled a bibliography of financial literacy books for my college library. These books on stock investing may interest your son.

1) All About Stocks by Esme Faerber

2) Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelley

3) The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

4) The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

Most of these books are available at your local library.

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  • Mary B.
    Real Estate Investor · Lansdowne, PA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 656 votes
    12y

    Chris Gardner seems like a good source. There was another similar story recently in the metro paper but his name escapes me at the moment.

    Kudos,

    Mary

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  • Suzie Remilien
    Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 149 posts · 58 votes
    12y

    @Patrick McGowen I recently compiled a bibliography of financial literacy books for my college library. These books on stock investing may interest your son.

    1) All About Stocks by Esme Faerber

    2) Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelley

    3) The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

    4) The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

    Most of these books are available at your local library.

    1Reply
  • Patrick McGowen
    OP
    Investor · Belgrade, MT · Member since 2013 · 135 posts · 32 votes
    12y

    thanks @Mary B. and @Suzie R.

    The intelligent investor is one I came across just reading reviews. I will give that one a try.

    P

    0Reply
  • Brian Oney
    Investor · Roanoke, TX · Member since 2013 · 49 posts · 26 votes
    12y

    The Intelligent Investor is essentially the Bible of securities investing. Buffett is a big believe in it and pretty much amounts to "buy stuff cheap / on sale".

    Little Book of Common Sense Investing by Bogle is another classic. He created Vanguard funds based on this philosophy. This pretty much amounts to "don't pay unnecessary fees".

    I briefly worked as a Financial Advisor and the only value I saw in that role/job is tax strategies and to help people from being emotional when investing.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Involved In Real Estate · Lynchburg, VA · Member since 2013 · 246 posts · 75 votes
    12y

    If I wanted to invest in stocks long term I'd just follow Warren Buffet's stock investment principles. There's a million books and interviews about it.

    With very little money to invest, like $1,500, I'd definitively go with a much more aggressive approach. While in college I doubled my scholarship money over 2 years by investing in biotechnological companies and options. To be fair, this is more of a gamble and there are higher risks (but also higher rewards).

    0Reply
  • Chris Martin
    Investor · Willow Spring, NC · Member since 2009 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    From a different perspective (from a CAN SLIM model perspective), I'd suggest one of William O'neil's earlier books, 'How to Make Money in Stocks'. His hybrid method is a little more technical analysis centric than fundamentals (e.g. Buffett) , but this book will offer a perspective that you don't see elsewhere. If you haven't already, pick up a copy of Investor's Business Daily (IBD) for your son.

    1Reply
  • Duncan Taylor
    Real Estate Investor · Member since 2013 · 866 posts · 487 votes
    12y

    @Patrick McGowen,

    First, a big hat tip to you for recognizing and encouraging your son to follow his own path. So many try to force their kids into the 'family business' it is refreshing to see this not happening here.

    I'll second or third "The Intelligent Investor" and "Common Sense Investing". If you son is more of the technical investor type, you might consider "Fire Your Stock Analyst!" too.

    0Reply
  • Ryan Doyle
    Spring Hill, FL · Member since 2013 · 23 posts · 3 votes
    12y

    It may depend on your son's strengths as well. If he is big into numbers and math, a technical analysis system may work best for him. He'll learn to watch the indicators (MACD, Stochastics, RSI...and a number of others) and be focused on the stock's price and how it changes.


    Fundamental analysis focuses more on the company, where it's headed, who heads it...basically everything else but the numbers.

    Options are their own world, IMO, the best way to learn options trading is to have him signup on TDAmeritrade, then sign up on TastyTrade.com and watch the "Where Do I Start?" series.

    Good luck to him.

    0Reply
  • William MorganPro Member
    Fix & Flip or Hold · San Luis Obispo, CA · Member since 2012 · 136 posts · 63 votes
    12y

    Jesse Livermore: World's Greatest Stock Trader
    It's not a how-to book, but fascinating and filled with lessons.

    I'll also second any book written by William O'neil

    0Reply
  • David Krulac
    Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    "Random Walk Down Wall Street"

    "One Up On Wall Street" by Peter Lynch

    "Where are the Customer's Yachts?"

    plus already mentioned John Bogle & Benjamin Graham

    I haven't written any books on Wall Street so I can't recommend my own books....yet.

    0Reply
  • Patrick McGowen
    OP
    Investor · Belgrade, MT · Member since 2013 · 135 posts · 32 votes
    12y

    Thank you all so much for feedback. I am so clueless on stocks, I don't know much beyond PE ratios. Figuring out best option for him has been a good learning experience for me. My son is very solid in math, but being sophomore in high school any heavy statistical analysis might be beyond him, although he would likely be able to pick it up. I got intelligent investor, I think I will read that too for my own knowledge (even though I never plan to invest in stock market), have him read IBD regularly and if he gets through that pick a book / web tutorial on technical and/or options side .

    This may become a little overwhelming for him. I am thinking of a way to incentivize him. Like if he gets through reading and digs in enough to understand it, and develops a business plan/ or detailed gameplan (metrics/philosophy, etc). I will add a $5,000 loan to his pot. He can use my $5k to trade with as long as he discusses his trades with me before hand. If he loses it all, I will consider it tuition, if he gets ahead, we will split profits.

    1Reply
  • Mike Baker
    Contractor · Blackfoot, ID · Member since 2013 · 149 posts · 52 votes
    12y
    I would encourage you to google stock investment training. I found a couple of "practice" sites that let you trade stock in real time on a simulated basis. Lots of education in those sites as well.
    0Reply
  • Chris Martin
    Investor · Willow Spring, NC · Member since 2009 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Patrick McGowen:
    Thank you all so much for feedback. I am so clueless on stocks, I don't know much beyond PE ratios. Figuring out best option for him has been a good learning experience for me. My son is very solid in math, but being sophomore in high school any heavy statistical analysis might be beyond him, although he would likely be able to pick it up. I got intelligent investor, I think I will read that too for my own knowledge (even though I never plan to invest in stock market), have him read IBD regularly and if he gets through that pick a book / web tutorial on technical and/or options side .

    This may become a little overwhelming for him. I am thinking of a way to incentivize him. Like if he gets through reading and digs in enough to understand it, and develops a business plan/ or detailed gameplan (metrics/philosophy, etc). I will add a $5,000 loan to his pot. He can use my $5k to trade with as long as he discusses his trades with me before hand. If he loses it all, I will consider it tuition, if he gets ahead, we will split profits.

    I think that is a great game plan. Regarding "This may become a little overwhelming for him." I wouldn't worry about that too much. Why? You stated initially "My teenage son wants to invest in stocks." If he has an interest, that's 90% of the battle.

    I'm glad you decided on IBD. I'm sure you know there is a 2 week free trial. Give it a try... the worst (and unlikely) case is he can't understand it and gives up. No financial loss. But he sounds motivated to learn, so it should be Okay. I had an IBD membership for about 15 years. That and TC2000 resulted in several 10-baggers for me and beneficiaries of accounts I managed as custodian. One success I'll share was a roughly $6K account that I turned into 4 full years of paid tuition, room, and board for a beneficiary at a local (UNC) university. Started at a $6K account... which is about the value you're talking about. No pressure;) But the point is it can be done, and I know IBD (and 'platforms' like TC2000) are good enablers. My view is that it's not unlike BiggerPockets being an enabler (or (losely construed) a 'platform') for information and knowledge about REI... it's best to start with a good direction and solid, stable first steps.

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  • Mike S.
    Investor · Los Angeles , CA · Member since 2014 · 132 posts · 25 votes
    12y

    @Patrick McGowen Investing in the Stock Market is similar to Real Estate in that there are many successful strategies, Bill Oneil and his methodology (IBD/CANSLIM) is among the best for those willing to take a more active approach. The other books I recommend are the Market Wizards series its easy to read interviews with the top Traders (some of whom are Bill Oneil disciples). In the stock market and in real estate its always best to study models of success.

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  • Carl Gryska
    Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 22 posts · 3 votes
    12y

    I really like Jim Cramer.

    I watch his show, read 2 of his books

    And I also subscribe to his action alerts.

    So far so good for me

    So good to start young!

    0Reply
  • Robart Luis
    Professional · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 22 posts · 0 votes
    11y

    Hi all,

    Please visit the link below to browse some wonderful books on stock market trading.

    http://www.invest-store.com/learntotrade/

    0Reply
  • Mike Osterman
    Specialist · Novato, CA · Member since 2012 · 190 posts · 57 votes
    11y

    You can throw all those away. ( I did )

    w w w .  marketgeometry . com

    Forget everything else and learn to read a chart. That way he can trade anything!

    0Reply
  • Matt Sterling
    Investor · Brownstown, IN · Member since 2015 · 46 posts · 10 votes
    11y

    Bogle is good.  Putting everything in Vanguard index funds is the best way to do it passively. Trying to actually beat the market by active buying & selling of individual stocks is a tough gig and a lot of people don't think it can done long term.  The flash boys are taking so much off the top, its a brutal game. 

    0Reply
  • Jon Behlke
    Accountant · Hopwood, PA · Member since 2015 · 125 posts · 92 votes
    11y

    One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch is a must read, particularly for the teenage investor.  It explains why he will most likely have more success than the big firms because A) he is in tune with the target demographic of a lot of businesses, and B) he doesn't have to worry about regulation violations when he invests $1,500 in one or two companies, unlike the mutuals, who invest millions at a time.

    I have read the book a dozen times over the years.

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