10 Must Read Books For Stock Market Investors: For a novice investor, taking on the world of investing can be a challenging and often a daunting task. In a world filled with too much information, fake gurus etc. one may find it hard to even understand where to begin their investing journey.
This is where books from some of the best minds that have stood the test of time step in. With millions of books out there, we bring you the top 10 books or holy grails to begin your investing journey. Keep Reading to find out!
Table of Contents
10 Must Read Books For Stock Market Investors:
1. One Up On Wall Street
This book is ranked one on our list of 10 must read books for stock market investors. Peter Lynch, the author of this book, is one of the most successful fund managers with an average annual return of 30% on his portfolio for a period of 13 years. (A great record for a mutual fund manager).
This classic book explains all the important basics that a beginner should know before investing. From preparing to invest, how, when, whys to the long-term investment approach, everything is covered in this book. Here, Peter Lynch describes his stock picking approach for winning stocks.
In the book, Peter Lynch also describes the 6 different types of stocks in the market and how to approach them. You can read regarding the Peter lynch’s stock categories in details here: Six Different Types of Stock in Indian Market according to Peter Lynch
In short, go to amazon and buy this book. This book needs to be in your hand if you want to learn all about stock investment basics from scratch.
You can read a detailed review of this book here.
2. The Intelligent Investor
This is also known as the bible of the stock market. A must-read book written by the legendary Benjamin Graham, a.k.a. the mentor of the greatest investor of all time- Warren Buffet.
The book explains the fundamentals of the stock market from the view-point of value investors. There are three main concepts covered in this book.
First, the investing approach for a defensive investor and enterprising (aggressive) investor. The other two concepts introduced by Graham in this book are- Mr. Market and Margin of Safety for easy explanation of the market behavior and risk management.
I will highly recommend you to read this evergreen classic book on the stock market. There are many concepts that you can learn by reading this book. I have already read this book 2 times.
A little advise. This is the oldest book in my list of ’10 Must Read Books For Stock Market Investors’, compared to the publication date of other books. As this book was written way back, you might feel like reading the 1940’s story.
Further, it might be a little tough to maintain the momentum in the starting as few chapters are irrelevant to Indian stock market (you can ignore those chapters). However, the knowledge gained from completing the book will be worth it.
You can read a detailed review of ‘The Intelligent Investor’ here.
3. Beating the street
Another classic by Peter Lynch, the star mutual fund manager of the Magellan fund at Fidelity Investments. An Excellent book for individual investors looking to tap the stock market for long-term value investment opportunities. A good reference to go back to when trying out investing on your own.
It explains the fundamentals of picking your stock in a very simple language and hence listed in my 10 must read books for the stock market investors.
4. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
One of my favorite book regarding growth stock investment appraoch. This book was published almost the same time as ‘The Intelligent Investor’ by Ben Graham.
- The book explains the investment philosophy of how ‘Philip Fisher’ finds growth stocks that lead to massive gains if held for long term.
- The important chapters is the book- What to buy, where to buy & When to sell.
- Philip Fisher also explains about the 15 points to look for in a common stock.
- A great read for growth stock investors.
When most of the stock market investors were focusing on value, Philip Fisher was the one of the first investors to focus more on growth. I won’t go into too much detail as to spoil the fun reading this book. This amazing book finds forth rank in my list of the 10 must read books for stock market investors.
You can read a detailed review of this book here.
5. The little book that beats the market
The book ‘The little book that beats the market’ describes a ‘MAGIC FORMULA’ for selecting stocks. This formula gave brilliant returns when applied by determined and patient investors.
The magic formula given by the author is an efficient way of selecting the stocks. The formula consists of two key factors. They are: Earning yield & Return on Capital. If you consider these two key factors for any stock market before investing, then the result will surely be amazing. By the way, this formula is also applicable in the Indian share market.
(Note: The book is really small with just 176 pages and hence the smallest book in our list of 10 must read books for stock market investors. A good read for short vacation or a weekend.)
You can read a detailed review of this little book here.
6. The Warren Buffet Way
This was one of the best books to learn Warren Buffett investing strategy! It gives a deep insight into the Warren Buffett way of investing in stocks.
Hagstrom covers all the necessary aspects to achieve similar success like Buffett that you can apply immediately to your own portfolio. The good thing about The Warren Buffett Way is the author tends to stay away from high faulting words that make it understandable to anyone willing to learn value investment.
With the classic Warren buffett investment strategies, the book found its way in the list of the 10 must read books for the stock market investors.
7. Stocks to Riches
A must-read book for Indian Investors. This book is written in a very simple and understandable language. The author ‘Parag Parikh’, writes the whole truth about stock markets in this book, which makes it one of the best stock market books India.
If you want to avoid the stock market beginner’s mistakes, then you should definitely read this book before entering the market. Remember, learning from your own mistakes is not free in the share market world as a lot of money is at the stake.
This book is written in such a manner that even a fifth-grader can understand. This makes this book a classic book of all time and in my list of 10 must read books for stock market investors.
8. Learn to Earn
This book gives you great insight into the market, economy, and capitalization. Very well written & can be easily understood by people who don’t have a commerce background. A great book to read if you are starting your journey in the share market world.
Quick Tip: If you are new to the share market, you’ll need to open your demat account to start investing/trading. We’ll highly recommend opening an account with Zerodha, No 1 stockbroker in India. Here’s a detailed post on how to open Zerodha account step-by-step.
9. How to avoid loss and earn consistently in the stock market
The author of the book Prasenjit Paul, explains the scenario of the Indian share market and the winning strategies used by him for consistent returns from the market.
The book explains the basics of Investing in Stock in very simple and lucid terms. It also gives you a 2-min strategy to shorlist/reject stocks before detailed analysis. It’s good to first read this book and then invest. The book found a definite spot on our list of 10 must read books for the stock market investors.
Note: You can read a detailed interview with the author Prasenjit Paul here.
10. Stocks for the long run
One of the best book for the practical advice on investment which includes a valuable excursion into the history of markets –
- A good read for anyone wanting to invest in their long-term future without going to the other extreme of ‘buy and hold’ forever.
- The book gives the reader a deep appreciation of the historical returns on stocks and bonds.
- The author, Jeremy Siegel, makes a convincing case, that for long-term growth stocks are the best asset class to hold.
- The book also states that actively managing a portfolio or trying to time the market is counterproductive, which can be indicated by historical returns of actively managed funds versus passive indices.
A very informative book and the last book in my top 10 must read books for stock market investors list.
Bonus Books For Stock Market Investors!
Here are few other books for investors which are also worth checking out. (Although this post is about 10 must-read books, however, I just cannot miss mentioning these books here).
- A random walk down wall street by Burton Malkiel
- Value investing and behavioral finance by Parag Parikh
- The little book of valuation by Aswath Damodaran
- The Dhandho Investor by Mohnish Pabrai
Also read: 3 Amazing Books to Read for a Successful Investing Mindset.
Final verdict!
One may feel confident just by knowing what books to begin with. It’s been many years since I began my investing, but the books mentioned above certainly equipped me with various tools to make my journey easier.
All these books have sold millions of copies around the world but if it came down to picking only one it would be “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham without a doubt. But at the end of the day, it is the application of the information gained from these books which matter or maybe if you decide to write something special about these books, then different writing services at Economic Times help you a lot.
Let me know which book is your favorite or which books helped you in your investing journey. Happy Reading!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What books do investors recommend?
A few top books that investors recommend are One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, Common Stocks, and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher, The Little Book That Beats The Market by Joel Greenblatt, The Warren Buffett Way by Robert G. Hagstrom, Stocks To Riches to Parag Parikh, Learn To Earn by Peter Lunch, How To Avoid Loss And Earn Consistently In the Stock Market by Prasenjit Paul, and Stocks For The Long Run by Jeremy Siegel.
- Which book is best for stock market beginners?
For the Beginners, the top-recommended books are Peter Lynch books Learn to Earn & Beating the Street, Investonomy: The Stock Market Guide That Makes You Rich by Pranjal Kamra, Stocks to Riches by Parag Parikh, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle and The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore
- Can I learn about the stock market by reading books?
The answer is “no.” Just like you cannot learn how to swim by reading books on swimming, similarly, you cannot learn about the stock market investing just by reading books. Reading books is just the beginning. It will help you understand the basics.
However, after reading books, you’ll have to understand things like fundamental analysis and technical analysis, try virtual trading, be aware of the latest developments that could impact the market, start investing small amounts, and figure out how things work. With time and experience, you learn about the stock market.
- What do top investors read?
Top investors read a lot of company reports and news. The top investors spend a lot of time reading annual and quarterly reports of the company to get to know about its financial ratios, the business plan of the company, the investment structure, the exit strategy, readiness of converting an idea into a product or service, and if the business idea is unique and feasible.
In addition, the top investors also read a lot of investing books to keep growing their knowledge and to increase their circle of competence.
- What is the best book to understand stock market and world economics?
If you’re a beginner and want to read a book written in simple language, you could read Beating The Street and Learn to Earn by Peter Lynch. To get an understanding of world economics, you could read The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations by Jacob Soll.
Kritesh (Tweet here) is the Founder & CEO of Trade Brains & FinGrad. He is an NSE Certified Equity Fundamental Analyst with +7 Years of Experience in Share Market Investing. Kritesh frequently writes about Share Market Investing and IPOs and publishes his personal insights on the market.
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No single book written by Warren buffet
Yes, Warren buffet hasn’t written a single book. But if you are interested, you can read his letters to the stockholders. They are pretty informative too.
And when talking about Warren My favorites are. 1. Snowball.
2. The Warren buffet way.
Very informative for novice investors.
Hey
I am beginner in stock market, let me know you suggestion on which book out of 10 should I start reading.
Hi Raj. I will recommend you to start with ‘One up on the wall street’ & ‘Common stocks and uncommon profits’ as they are simple books with great concepts. For getting a good grasp of Indian stock market, you can read ‘How to avoid loss’ by Prasenjit paul. Then, ‘The intelligent investor’ by Benjamin graham is the must read here, but I will recommend you to read it after reading the above mentioned books.
Absolutely I too agree with Kritesh, the behavioural aspect should also needs to be understood although no one could estimate 100 percent but you eventually gain some knowledge on those variables from these books.
I feel one has to read accounting and financial statement analysis also to understand the accounting language.
I am personally learning investing since the past 1 year. I felt The Intelligent Investor is not a right book for beginners. Since accounting is the language of business, one can read basic accounting concepts from Indian Authors or there is free NCERT book for 11th and 12th available. Then read financial statement analysis.
Hi Pradeep. Thanks for your comment. I believe that it’s good to have knowledge of accounting & finance. However, one doesn’t need to read the course books to get the knowledge here. NCERT books are little boring. Moreover, having just good knowledge in finance won’t help much in stock market investing as you will need more qualities like discipline, patience and persistence.
In additon, it’s good to learn from the great investors through their novels as they can teach you better through there experience which cannot be achieved by reading NCERT books. I hope it makes sense what I’m saying.
Totally agree with uh kritesh as no doubt accounting concepts r must but when we begin to enter in share market,these concepts seems of no use!!!
Hi kritesh I believe you missed out a best to read book name as Five rules for successful stocks Investing by Pat Dorsey.Im reading this book and I found it to be a very good book
I haven’t read this book. Looking forward to reading it.
hey kritesh i follow you on quara Your Answer is very useful for us, keep it up….
Happy Investing
Thank you Pratik.
I have read Prasenjit’s book.It’s very useful for investors beginning their investment journey.
can’t there is any indian invester who wrote book on indian share market
There are few Indian investors who have written amazing books. For example- Value investing and behavioral finance by Parag Parikh.
Hi Kritesh
You said that u spent more than 3 years in this sector right
can you please tell me what you did in the entire 3 year period in detail
Is there any course for this sector
Hi Praveen. 3 Years is a long time to cover in a single comment. However, to summarize, I read books, blogs & financial websites, watched youtube videos, followed the market, invested my money, made profits in few and lost in some. Overall, there were a lot of ups and downs. Nevertheless, I learned a lot. Further, as you are interested in courses, you can check out few here: https://courses.tradebrains.in I hope it helps. Happy Investing.
I have just begun trading with rs 6 lakhs and at present I have lost half of my money.What should I do now?What books should I read?
Hi Dipankar. Sorry to hear that. If you are looking for fundamental analysis books, the ones I’ve mentioned above can help. You can start with One up on wall street by Peter Lynch or The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham.
The books you mention. Are they on Fundamental Analyses only. I was more interested in Technical Analyses.
Yes, all of the books mentioned in the above post are for fundamental analysis. Nonetheless, here’s a list of good technical analysis books– https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/090916/top-5-books-learn-technical-analysis.asp
Hey sir…. I m felling lucky that unintentionally i gound you?… Thanku so much
Furtger i would like to ask..
Why u havent ranked the book ‘Bull, Bears &other beast’ which u recommended in earlier blogs.?
Hi Lakshya. Bull, bears and other beasts by Santhosh Nair is a good book for beginners. However, I find the above mentioned 10 books in my list more helpful and value adding.
Hello dear sir I am in accounting profession dear sir plz give me the right advice for stock related books I am new as a beginner which books best for me….
Hi Gaurav. To learn investing basics- you should read the above-mentioned books. If you want to understand valuation- you should try out ‘valuation by Damodaran’. I hope it helps. Cheers!
Dear Kritesh, I extend my heartiest thanks to you. I am very pleased with your initiative to educate masses about stock market at this age. May you lift to your high aspirations.
Thank you so much Paban.
Hi Kritesh
How do you see investing as a career in India? I mean, how much is the possibility of success??
Yes!! There are a number of careers in investing in India. From a full-time investor/trader, research analyst, investment advisor to stockbroker, sub-broker etc, all these careers are highly successful– if you are willing to put efforts.
Hi Kritesh,
This is Hitesh Hariani, I am a BE Production engineer but my friend belonging to Stock market stream introduced me to the Share market.
I request you to kindly suggest me few good books – For understanding the concepts –
How to read a Balance sheet, what to check in for a sound balance sheet, how to analyse income statements, cash flow statement, etc
Thanks & Regards,
Hitesh Hariani.
Hi Hitesh. I don’t know many books to learn financial statements. Actually, I did an accountancy course in my engineering and I learned how to read financial statements with college notes/library books only. The accountancy course was intense and that’s why I developed a good foundation in this domain. You can also try some textbooks to understand this concept. Here’s a link to a book on financial statements– https://amzn.to/2Lk4scE I hope it helps.
Great book list bro. I’m planning to start investing in Indian stocks soon. But first, i want to learn. Are pdfs of these books available online? I can’t carry the hardcopies everywhere. If available, please share the link brother. TIA!
Hi Harshit. There might be some free pdfs available online. Please google search it. I can’t place those free links here as there might be copyright issues on the book. Anyways, you can always try reading on Kindle. I hope you understand.
sir…very helpful thank very much
You are welcome, Malsooru!!
Hi kritesh
This is GURTEJ from jammu. I want to start my career in stock market but I know nothing about it. Sir can u plz show me the right way.sir can u pls advice me how I gain knowledge about stock market. Thx
Hi, bro.i have recently completed MBA in finance. Since I have a basic understanding of the financial markets, I think I can go directly for the intelligent investor. Give suggestions.
Sure, You can definitely start with The Intelligent Investor. It’s an amazing book. But the book is over 600 pages long. So make sure that you’re ready for the commitment. It’s good to warm up first by reading a few short books to build the momentum.
Sir,
Thank You so much for writing such a piece of art for us.
I am looking forward to step into the world of investing soon. Can you suggest me if the books I have chosen will be helpful or not.
I have chosen:
1)Stocks to Riches by Parag Parikh
2)How to avoid loss and earn consistently by Prasenjit Paul
3) The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Garaham
If so, then which one should I start with.
I know basics of accounting and a little about Indian Stock Market. Like how shares are listed, ipo, nse,bse, indices,etc.. All I want to convey is that I have a little technical knowledge to start with. Thanks for reading.
Again, thanks a lot for writing such a splendid article.
Hi Shreyas. You can follow the order that you have mentioned above. Start with stocks to riches by Parag Parikh. In addition, I’ll also recommend reading one up on wall street by Peter Lynch. I hope it helps. Cheers!!
Hi Kritesh,
All of the books in your list are by Western authors. Is the material applicable to the BSE or NSE?
Thanks
Hi Michael. Yes, the ideology and strategies shares in the books are applicable to any market, including BSE and NSE.
I am a beginner for Stock Market.I want to Invest in stocks for Long term.
could you please suggest me two books for long-term Investment and I am looking for some strategies with realistic examples
hi this is a great list to begin with . could you suggest me a list of books to read for futures and options trading specially related to the indian market.
A good list of books. Surely help in value investing to beginners.
I am thinking about investing in stock market for long term. Should I choose some big companies shares or some of the emerging ones. I have a budget of 10,00,000.00 INR. It would be better if you’ll guide me sir.
Hi Chandan. It is always advisable to diversify your portfolio to mitigate risks and increase rewards. For example- you can allocate a majority of your investment (say 7/10) in blue-chips and remaining three in fast-growing mid/small cap companies. With time, keep holding the winning stocks and get rid of the losers. Personally, I also started with big companies and later added mid and small caps to maximize the upside potential. Moreover, keep in mind that making a strong portfolio takes time and can’t be built in a month or two. You do not need to make all the investment at once, rather keep picking amazing stocks whenever you get a good opportunity over the complete year. And by the course of a few years, you will have a great list of companies in your portfolio. I hope it helps. Cheers!!
Name 10 best book names in share trading not for beginners
Hi kritesh i am in stock market sibce 3 yrs and have studied lots of book from amazon regarding stock market.from my experience i have seen for sucessfull trader u should know when price will move up or down.i have studied indicator,charts pattern etc so now 50 percent i can judge about price.can u tell me is there indicator or anything by which we come to know about stock trend
Thanx kritesh sir for sharing imp.books but could you please tell us which book to be read first and which to be read lastly
1.Could you please mention the sequence for reading books ?
2.Please suggest book for fundamental analysis for beginner ?
Hi,
You have created a very fantastic book list. I have read (after recommended by you) 4 books from these book list.
Sir, I would like to know before 9:15 AM
1.The lowest price of the day
2.The highest price of the day
3.Which come first
Till date , I am unable to find even 80% accuracy is OK, Kindly reply.
Thanx kritesh sir for sharing imp.books but could you please tell us which book to be read first and which to be read secondaly, then thirdly for beginners
1.Could you please mention the sequence for reading books ?
2.Please suggest book for fundamental analysis for beginner ?
Index Investing by Abhishek Kumar. Highly recommended.
Thank! This is a great selection of books on investing. I read almost all of them. Unfortunately, in our country, not all of them are available in their native language. Therefore, people have to order in English))
Thanks! All these books are related to Fundamental Analysis and Value Investing. But my first book was “How I Made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market by Darvas”, it’s an amazing story of a trader.
very Informative thank you
Thanks for valuable information sir
Hi! I myself is getting information and financial advice from the differnent kiddle books in past. They really helped me alot.
After that I moved a step forward and found a great resource InvestYadnya ebooks. Check this out and I am sure that this will really help you in Future.
Thank you
Thank you! This is a superb selection of investment books. I read just about every one of them. Unfortunately not all of them are available in their mother tongue in our country. People must therefore get order in English
Very informative and nice article sir.
These books are helpful to understand the stock market. With this reference of this books, financial market has become easy to understand. Books are the best source to gain knowledge. Books are simply the best assistance things that will disclose to you about everything without exception.
This book beginners like me helps a lot. The understanding finance market is difficult if you don’t have a mentor. Thank you for sharing these books. Books are the best guide for anything.
Thanks for your suggestion and I want to read all of this but I’m a bit confused that which one should I read first if I want to learn in-depth information about the stock market.
Starting in the Stock Market is complicated for beginners and even sometimes difficult to comprehend. It is very helpful to learn jargon, tips and strategies before you start investing. All the books mentioned in the blog are useful not only for beginners but also for experienced investors.
Nicely informative.
Thanks for the information it’s very important for us.
Very helpful books.