The Intelligent Asset Allocator, by William Bernstein

William Bernstein is one of today’s most unlikely financial heroes. A practicing neurologist, he used his self-taught investment knowledge and research to build a popular investor’s website. Now, in the plain-spoken The Intelligent Asset Allocator, he shows independent investors how to build a diversified portfolio-without the help of a financial advisor.

A breath of fresh air for investors tired of overly technical investment tomes, this book will help investors:

• Learn the risk/reward characteristics of various investment types.

• Understand and apply portfolio theory for an improved risk/reward ratio.

• Sharpen their focus, and take control of their investment programs.

William Bernstein (North Bend, OR) runs a website-www.efficientfrontier.com-known for its quarterly journal of asset allocation and portfolio theory, Efficient Frontier.

As CEO at accounting giant KPMG, Eugene O’Kelly was so immersed in his job that over the course of a decade, he managed to have lunch with his wife on weekdays just twice. His travel schedule was set 18 months out. Once, he was so obsessed with impressing a potential client that he tracked down the man’s travel schedule, booked the seat next to him on a flight, schmoozed the guy all the way to Australia, landed the account, and flew immediately back to Manhattan. His Type-A ways vanished when, at age 53, a top neurosurgeon in New York told him he had late- stage brain cancer. “His eyes told me I would die soon. It was late spring. I had seen my last autumn in New York.” [p.7]

There are no TV-movie-style miracle treatments or extensions of his life expectancy; he’s told he has maybe 3 months, and he doesn’t spend any energy hoping for a cure. True to his CEO style, he creates goals for himself, lists of friends to visit for the last time; he meditates; he tries to create as many “Perfect Moments” that he can, during dinner or phone conversations with friends, and realized how few rare those moments of connection and joy were in his “previous life.”[p116] “Chasing Daylight” is as much a self-criticism of his job-before- family ways as it is a meditation on time and a transition to a tranquil, spiritual state utterly foreign to him as a CEO. O’Kelly’s absolutely more fulfilled by the soul work that he finishes in 100 days, compared to his 30 years of corporate promotions and accolades, and he utterly convinces readers to ponder their own situation, whether “in the gloaming” of life as he was or not.–Erica Jorgensen, Amazon.com

The Richest Man in Babylon : Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

Now, in an updated, modern English version for the 21st century, enjoy reading this classic book on financial investment and fiscal success. Through a series of delightful short stories, straight from the heart of ancient Babylon, learn economic tips and tools for financial success that have withstood the test of time and that are applicable still today. Enjoy reading, and start saving today!

The Art of Short Selling, by Kathryn F. Staley

To “sell short” on Wall Street, an investor finds overpriced stocks and then deals them before actually buying them. Regularly falling in and out of favor, the discipline remains one of the financial market’s highest-risks but most profitable practices. The Art of Short Selling by Kathryn Staley, an expert in the field, uses examples and instructions to show how it can be done successfully–while cautioning that it “is not for the faint of heart.”

The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, by Thomas L. Friedman

One day in 1992, Thomas Friedman toured a Lexus factory in Japan and marveled at the robots that put the luxury cars together. That evening, as he ate sushi on a Japanese bullet train, he read a story about yet another Middle East squabble between Palestinians and Israelis. And it hit him: Half the world was lusting after those Lexuses, or at least the brilliant technology that made them possible, and the other half was fighting over who owned which olive tree.

Friedman, the well-traveled New York Times foreign-affairs columnist, peppers The Lexus and the Olive Tree with stories that illustrate his central theme: that globalization–the Lexus–is the central organizing principle of the post-cold war world, even though many individuals and nations resist by holding onto what has traditionally mattered to them–the olive tree.

A must-read investing book for traders. Investors-be they aggressive or conservative, self-directed or professionally managed-are always on the lookout for an edge. And in James O’Shaughnessy’s What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time, they’ll find a solid one: authoritative analysis of popular practices from the past. The author examines three decades of stock market data to show how 15 of the most common investment tactics have fared over time.

Devil Take The Hindmost chronicles the great booms and busts of financial history. “If you know history’s mistakes,” as the saying goes, “you’re bound not to repeat them.” The stories in this book are fabulous. And the similarities of booms and busts compared to each other and applied to today are incredibly valuable.

The best investing book in the marketplace on how the world works. It’s so entertaining, that it’s usually found in the humor section, not the economics section, of the bookstore. Disguised in all the fun is a powerful dissertation on why freedom creates incredible wealth. When you’re done, do your part to save the future of the world - give it to your favorite bleeding-heart college kid.

This book has been the springboard from which millions have come to understand the basic truths about economics–and the economic fallacies responsible for inflation, unemployment, high taxes, and recession. Hazlitt explains this insight and applies it brilliantly to many specific economic issues (inflation, unemployment, price controls, international trade, and others). By the time the reader has completed this serious-minded and enlightening investing book, he or she will be ‘thinking like an economist’.

Based on 3 principles–capital preservation, consistent profits and pursuit of superior returns–“Trader Vic” highlights proven strategies usable by any investor. Victor Sperandeo has developed a uniquely powerful investment strategy integrating knowledge of the markets, technical analysis, odds and probability, economics, politics, and psychology. His book helps make consistent winners–even in an inconsistent market.

One of the great investing books out there… You’ll learn from in-depth interviews with 17 of the world’s top traders. These folks all turned mere pittance into many millions of dollars during their storied careers. You get to learn all their mistakes, so you don’t repeat them - all while you gain a grand total of 340 years of in-the-pit investment experience.

It’s unlikely that you’ll spot many dog-eared copies of A Random Walk floating amongst the Wall Street set (although bookshelves at home may prove otherwise). After all, a “random walk”–in market terms–suggests that a “blindfolded monkey” would have as much luck selecting a portfolio as a pro. But Burton Malkiel’s classic investing book is anything but random. Since stock prices cannot be predicted in the short term, argues Malkiel, individual investors are better off buying and holding onto index funds than meddling with securities or actively managing mutual funds.

In this shrewd and wickedly funny book, Michael Lewis describes an astonishing era and his own rake’s progress through the jungle of a powerful investment bank. In two short years he rose from trainee to a bond salesman who could turn over millions of dollars’ worth of doubtful bonds with just one call. This irreverent and hilarious birds-eye view of Wall Street’s heyday will appeal to anyone intrigued by the allure of million dollar deals.

If you’ve ever spent weekends and nights puzzling over whether to buy, sell, or hold a position in whatever investment–be it stock, bonds, or pork bellies, you’ll be glad that you read this book. The most important investing book for today’s investors isn’t on the hottest new trend–it’s a book written over 70 years ago. Originally published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator continues to inspire each new generation of investors.

Top-performing futures fund manager Victor Niederhoffer is no ordinary Wall Street guru. He never wears shoes in the office, reads no periodicals but the National Enquirer, and draws upon art and music–along with board games and horse racing–for long-term inspiration and ongoing motivation. The Education of a Speculator fully outlines Niederhoffer’s proven prescription for competing successfully in today’s tumultuous financial markets, in addition to unveiling his fascinating life story.

Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom, by Dr. Van K. Tharp

Van Tharp was one of the key players featured in Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders, which emerged as one of the best selling investing books of the late 1980s, and is THE psychologist for traders. He has developed a hugely successful seminar business that he conducts for large brokerage houses and banks throughout the world, as well as a five-volume home study course. This book is based on these well-known seminars and courses. Tharp provides the answers that every trader is looking for: What is the one trading method that will solve all his trading problems? What is the real secret of successful traders?

Renowned financier Martin Zweig guides readers to smart investing in the 1990s stock market with proven strategies on how to make informed buy and sell decisions, pick winners, spot major bull and bear trends early, and more. This constant bestseller was first published in 1986 and first revised in 1990, with 77,000 trade paperback copies sold. One of America’s most successful financial analysts provides a comprehensive, reliable guide to stock market investment, using proven techniques to pick stocks and explaining how to know when to buy and sell to achieve maximum return with minimum risk.

The bestselling author of Investment Biker is back from the ultimate road trip: a three-year drive around the world that would ultimately set the Guinness record for the longest continuous car journey. In Adventure Capitalist, legendary investor Jim Rogers, dubbed “the Indiana Jones of finance” by Time magazine, proves that the best way to profit from the global situation is to see the world mile by mile.