Books and Resources

We believe a broadly educated investor is a better investor. Below are some great resources that we recommend for our clients to read. Understanding history is one key to be a good long-term investor. An understanding of the past in addition to patience and faith will help you meet those great goals of life.

Looking for some good night time reading? We would recommend picking up the book The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of The World’s Most Controversial Resource, by Leonardo Maugeri. This tome does an excellent job of covering how oil became the critical commodity it is today, what is driving its price today and how much oil there really is in the world. The author does not have any particular axe to grind, but rather just lays out the facts for the reader to interpret.

On the suggested reading front we strongly recommend “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham. The facts and foundation of the book hold true today even though it was first published in 1943. Especially in these turbulent times it will take you through the long-term investing tenants of asset diversification, inflation, market fluctuations and the keys to wise investing.

Looking back over the path of history one will find it is littered with booms and busts in all sectors of the world economy. A great book first published in 1841 will show that today’s bubbles are nothing new. We recommend “Extraordinary Polular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” by Carles Mackay, LLD. You will read about “The South Sea Bubble”, “Fortune-Telling” and “Modern Prophecies”. This is a great read and eye opener.

A great book on investor behavior is Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth: How You and Your Financial Advisor Can Grow Your Fortune in Stock Mutual Funds”, by Nick Murrary. Statistics show the average mutual fund investor consistently underperforms the mutual funds that he or she owns. Why? Because they sell AFTER the fund has dropped 10% and buy back in AFTER the fund has risen 10%. After five years, the fund has delivered 10% average annual returns, yet the investor has achieved only 5-7% average annual returns (or worse). Murray correctly believes that the secret to long-term investment success lies in the investor's behavior, not in his ability to pick the best stocks or mutual funds. In this, and every other book by Nick Murray, he teaches investors how to fight their emotions and look beyond short-term performance to become better long-term investors. He preaches about the wisdom of dollar cost averaging and about buying stocks when they are "on sale."