Reading the techniques and philosophies of successful portfolio managers can be useful to beginning and seasoned investors alike.
Many of the investors followed by GuruFocus have penned some of the most influential books in the field. The following is a list of books authored by our gurus. Two of these authors are not current active investors, but are nonetheless essential reading for the value investor — Ben Graham and Peter Lynch.
If there are any books that have been left off this list, or you would like to recommend one, please let us know in the comments section below.
Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio)
- Value Investing Today
- Brandes on Value: The Independent Investor
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)
- Essays of Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio): Lessons for Corporate America
- Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters
David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio)
- Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Psychological Edge
This edition is a major revision of the 1998 version of the book
David Einhorn (Trades, Portfolio)
- Fooling Some of the People All the Time: A Long Short (And Now Complete) Story
Benjamin Graham
- Security Analysis
- The Intelligent Investor
- The Interpretation of Financial Statements
Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio)
- The Little Book that Still Beats the Market
- You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits
- The Big Secret for the Small Investor: A New Route to Long-Term Investment Success
Seth Klarman (Trades, Portfolio)
- Margin of Safety: Risk-averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor
There are only about 5,000 copies of Margin of Safety, which sell for almost $2,000 on sites like Amazon and eBay. Klarman holds the copyright, but has not spoken about reprinting or revising the book. Margin of Safety has become a value investing icon, and is reportedly one of the most stolen books from public libraries. Free PDF versions and notes circulate online.
Peter Lynch
- One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market
- Beating the Street
- Learn to Earn: A Beginner’s Guide to the Basics of Investing and Business
Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio)
- The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor
Mohnish Pabrai (Trades, Portfolio)
- Mosaic: Perspectives on Investing
- The Dhandho Investor: The Low-risk Value Method to High Returns
Jeremy Siegel
- Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies
- The Future for Investors: Why the Tried and True Triumph Over the Bold and New
David Swensen (Trades, Portfolio)
- Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
- Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment
Martin Whitman (Trades, Portfolio)
- The Aggressive Conservative Investor
- Value Investing: A Balanced Approach
- Modern Security Analysis: Understanding Wall Street Fundamentals
- Distress Investing: Principles and Technique
