Best Value Investing Books | Top 6
Learn about value investing with these fantastic books
Whether it’s property or stocks, value investing is a core part of our investment approach here at Essential Property. In this article, we look at the six best value investing books for investors looking to beat the stock market. These books are all fantastic reads in their own right, but read together they have the power to radically boost your investment skills. There’s a lifetime of knowledge and sage investment advice in these pages.
With these books, you’ll learn from giants like Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Joel Greenblatt. These masters of the industry are investors whose relentless pursuit of value has allowed them to beat the market time and time again. And their investment philosophies have inspired millions of investors worldwide. These books are must-reads for aspiring value investors and the best value investing books out there.
You can pick up the entire collection for around £100. So, they are an inexpensive way to learn from some of the greatest investors out there. And they can help you kickstart your value investing journey. These books are a great investment and will pay for themselves many times over in better investment returns and fewer expensive mistakes. You can also read some of these books for free with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited free trial.
You can click on the books to see the latest reviews and prices on Amazon. In addition, you can look inside to find out about the contents.
Our Reading List
Best Books on Value Investing
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1. Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing – Benjamin Graham
Synopsis:
“The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham, taught and inspired people worldwide. Over the years, developments have proven the wisdom of Graham’s strategies.
Graham’s philosophy of “value investing” – which shields investors from error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies – has made the Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.
This revised edition includes commentary by Jason Zweig. His perspective adds the realities of today’s market, giving readers an even better understanding of the principles.”
Our view:
One of the best books on value investing that you’ll ever read.
In this book, Benjamin Graham, father of value investing and teacher to Warren Buffet, teaches you all about what it means to be a value investor and applies his approach to stock market investing. The book will teach you the difference between investment and speculation, how to go about assessing the market, and why inflation is the investor’s public enemy number one. You’ll learn about portfolio construction and important limitations if you’re a lay investor.
A truly wonderful book about investing and one of the best value investing books for beginners.
2. The Essays of Warren Buffett – Lawrence Cunningham
Synopsis:
“When Warren Buffett speaks, people listen. And with good reason: Buffett is the most successful investor-manager in history.
According to Buffett, the best book collating his philosophy is The Essays of Warren Buffett. It’s written by Lawrence Cunningham, a renowned scholar and expert on Buffett and Berkshire.
The Essays is the definitive account of Buffett’s approach to investing, consisting of a curated and thematically organized compendium of Buffett’s original annual letters, along with Cunningham’s priceless commentaries.”
Our view:
A great book on value investing that offers a lifetime of education within its pages.
The essays included in this book are based on Warren Buffett’s letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s investment vehicle. They offer fantastic insights to Buffett’s approach to investing, analysing business fundamentals, and a truck load of sage advice and wise words about investing more generally. If you’re going to learn about value investing, why not learn from one of the best there’s been.
One of the best value investing books that we’ve ever read and a must read.
3. The Little Book That Still Beats The Market – Joel Greenblatt
Synopsis:
“In 2005, Joel Greenblatt published a book that is considered one of the classics of finance and a must-read for value investors everywhere.
In The Little Book that Beats the Market – a New York Times bestseller selling 300,000 copies – Greenblatt explained how investors can beat the market averages by systematically applying a formula that seeks out good businesses when they are available at bargain prices.
With a new Introduction and Afterword for 2010, The Little Book that Still Beats the Market updates and expands upon the research findings from the original book.”
Our view:
A wonderful book on value investing that’s also surprisingly easy-to-read.
The Little Book That Still Beats The Market is the updated version of Greenblatt’s 2005 bestseller. Greenblatt wrote this book for everyday investors (for his children in fact). The book teaches readers his simple formula for finding good businesses at bargain prices. The approach builds off the work of Benjamin Graham, but extends Graham’s criteria to cover more stocks. His approach beat the market by 10% to 15% p.a. in the 20-year period to 2009.
One of the best value investing books we’ve read to help you thrive in today’s markets.
4. One Up On Wall Street – Peter Lynch
Synopsis:
“America’s most successful money manager tells how average investors can beat the pros by using what they know.
According to Lynch, investment opportunities are everywhere. Be it in the supermarket or workplace, we encounter products and services all day long. By paying attention to the best ones, we can find companies to invest in before the professionals. And when investors get in early, they can find the ‘tenbaggers’, i.e. stocks that appreciate tenfold. A few tenbaggers will turn an average stock portfolio into a great one.
Lynch’s timeless advice makes this a bestseller and a value investing classic.”
Our view:
A wonderful book on stock investing that every investor should read and digest.
A classic work by Peter Lynch, legendary value investor and former star manager of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund. The core advice Lynch offers to everyday investors is to invest in what you know and that you can understand. He emphasises the importance of doing your own research, rather than depending on recommendations from your broker. You’ll learn metrics Lynch uses to screen stocks, how he thinks about value vs growth, and how to spot tenbaggers.
One of the best investing books for those who also like dabble in growth stocks.
5. Stock Market Wizards – Jack Schwager
Synopsis:
“The third in the bestselling Market Wizards series, this time focusing on the stock market.
The years up to 2003 witnessed the most dynamic bull market in US stock history, a commodity price collapse, dramatic failures in some of the world′s leading hedge funds, and the burst of the Internet bubble. Who have been the market wizards during this tumultuous financial period? How did some traders significantly outperform a stock market that during its heyday moved virtually straight up?
This book features interviews with a variety of traders who achieved phenomenal success during the glory days of the Internet boom.”
Our view:
A classic from the Market Wizards series that’s easy-to-read and inspirational.
If you’ve never read any books in Schwager’s Market Wizards series before, you’re in for a treat. This book is an easy-to-read write up of interviews with 13 of America’s top stock traders. Many of the traders interviewed use value investing strategies to help them outperform the markets. This book tells their stories, details their approaches, and offers great tips you can put into practice yourself to help you ride the bulls and battle those bears.
This is a wonderful book for learning more about what it takes to be a successful stock trader.
6. The Art of Short Selling – Kathryn Staley
Synopsis:
“On the investment playing field, there is perhaps no game more exciting than short selling. With the right moves, it can yield high returns; one misstep, however, can have disastrous consequences.
Despite the risk, a growing number of players are anteing up, sparked in part by success stories such as that of George Soros and the billions he netted by shorting the British pound.
In The Art of Short Selling, Staley, an expert in the field, examines the essentials of this discipline, providing a game plan with which you can play – and win – the short selling game.”
Our view:
A truly wonderful book about the exciting, high stakes world of short selling.
A book on short selling, the practice of betting on falls in a stock’s price, might seem an odd recommendation here. However, we think it’s a must-read for all equity investors. The book will teach you all about short selling. You’ll learn how short sellers think and how to identify different types of overvalued stocks, including bubble stocks, growth stocks, money-sucking stocks, obsolete stocks, story stocks, and more.
One of the best investing books for protecting you against common investment mistakes.
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