Book List

Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World
By Adam Tooze 
"The 2008 financial crisis was the greatest crisis to have struck Western societies since the end of the Cold War, but was it inevitable? And is it over? Crashed is an eye-opening reinterpretation of the 2008 economic crisis (and its ten-year aftermath) as a global event that directly led to the shockwaves being felt around the world today."


Risk, Uncertainty and Profit
​By Frank H. Knight
Risk, Uncertainty and Profit explains why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between “risk” and “uncertainty,” and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Written by Frank H. Knight, who some consider the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century, this 1921 work balances theory with fact to come to stunning insights.

Security Analysis
by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd
"This book Security Analysis has been continually in print since its first version. Hence, it has never-ending relevance. Benjamin Graham and David Dodd wrote this book in 1934. Ever since then, their investment principles have helped many investors. Countless investors have made fortunes from these principles. As per Warren Buffett, this book Security Analysis is his Bible. A lot has changed on Wall Street since then. But, the principle of investing in undervalued firms hasn’t. This book takes you to the time when lawmakers were still learning from the Great Depression. The norms of financial disclosure had changed because of the new Securities Act. Most public firms were mines, utilities, or railroads. This is a contrast with the blue-chip companies of today. We suggest this book Security Analysis for learners of financial history. Also, for serious investors, this is a great read."

Style Investing
by Richard Bernstein
"Headed by Bernstein, the quantitative equity and equity derivatives strategies group at Merrill Lynch is noted for their proprietary research on market segmentation and style investing. In this book, he highlights the macroeconomic, microeconomic and expectational factors that can affect equity market segment performance. The first section focuses on the definition and identification of market segments and reviews the major equity market segments that concern today's institutional investors. Part two analyzes the historical result of each segment of style strategy within the context of the economic and expectational framework. Lastly, it describes current issues and problems in equity markets and their implications for pension plan sponsors."

The Undoing Project
by Michael Lewis
Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics. One of the greatest partnerships in the history of science, Kahneman and Tversky’s extraordinary friendship incited a revolution in Big Data studies, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation, and made much of Michael Lewis’s own work possible. In The Undoing Project, Lewis shows how their Nobel Prize–winning theory of the mind altered our perception of reality.

Shoe Dog
by Phil Knight
In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

Financial Modeling
by Simon Benninga
Too often, finance courses stop short of making a connection between textbook finance and the problems of real-world business. Financial Modeling bridges this gap between theory and practice by providing a nuts-and-bolts guide to solving common financial models with spreadsheets. Simon Benninga takes the reader step bystep through each model, showing how it can be solved using Microsoft Excel. The long-awaited third edition of this standard text maintains the "cookbook"features and Excel dependence that have made the first and second editions so popular. It also offers significant new material, with new chapters covering such topics as bank valuation, the Black-Litterman approach to portfolio optimization, Monte Carlo methods and their applications to option pricing, and using array functions and formulas. Other chapters, including those on basic financial calculations, portfolio models, calculating the variance-co variance matrix, and generating random numbers, have been revised, with many offering substantially new and improved material. Other areas covered include financial statement modeling, leasing, standard portfolio problems, value at risk (VaR), real options, duration and immunization, and term structure modeling. Technical chapters treat such topics as data tables, matrices, the Gauss-Sidel method, and tips for using Excel.

Investment Valuation
by Aswath Damodaran
Valuation is at the heart of every investment decision, whether that decision is to buy, sell, or hold. But the pricing of any financial asset has become a more complex task in modern financial markets. Now completely revised and fully updated to reflect changing market conditions, Investment Valuation, Second Edition, provides expert instruction on how to value virtually any type of asset-stocks, bonds, options, futures, real assets, and much more.

Barbarians at the Gate
by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
A #1 New York Times bestseller and arguably the best business narrative ever written, Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco. An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date twenty years after the famed deal. The Los Angeles Times calls Barbarians at the Gate, “Superlative.” The Chicago Tribune raves, “It’s hard to imagine a better story...and it’s hard to imagine a better account.” And in an era of spectacular business crashes and federal bailouts, it still stands as a valuable cautionary tale that must be heeded.

The Intelligent Investor
by Benjamin Graham
The greatest investment adviser of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial 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.

Over the years, market developments have proven the wisdom of Graham's strategies. While preserving the integrity of Graham's original text, this revised edition includes updated commentary by noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, whose perspective incorporates the realities of today's market, draws parallels between Graham's examples and today's financial headlines, and gives readers a more thorough understanding of how to apply Graham's principles.

Vital and indispensable, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of The Intelligent Investor is the most important book you will ever read on how to reach your financial goals.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street
by Burton G. Malkie
Today’s stock market is not for the faint of heart. At a time of frightening volatility, what is the average investor to do?

The answer: turn to Burton G. Malkiel’s advice in his reassuring, authoritative, gimmick-free, and perennially best-selling guide to investing. Long established as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio or 401(k), A Random Walk Down Wall Street now features new material on “tax-loss harvesting,” the crown jewel of tax management; the current bitcoin bubble; and automated investment advisers; as well as a brand-new chapter on factor investing and risk parity. And as always, Malkiel’s core insights—on stocks and bonds, as well as real estate investment trusts, home ownership, and tangible assets like gold and collectibles— along with the book’s classic life-cycle guide to investing, will help restore confidence and composure to anyone seeking a calm route through today’s financial markets.