15 must read books on investing, stock markets, & trading

Books revolutionized humanity. They allowed people to borrow other’s knowledge. In a field like investing where past knowledge is disproportionately valuable, books prove to be a godsend.

In that light, here is a list of some of the most essential books on investing and the stock markets.

Best investing books

1. One Up On Wall Street – Peter Lynch

The author of the book Peter Lynch is one of the most successful fund managers having an average annual return of 30% for a period of 13 years.

The book explains the basics well and is an excellent read for all beginners prior to starting their investment journeys.

All aspects from preparing to invest, how, when, whys to the long-term investment approach, all things are covered in this book. Details of the various stocks in the market and the approach to buying each is also mentioned.

2. The Intelligent Investor-Benjamin Graham

Mr. Benjamin Graham, the mentor of the greatest investor of all time Mr. Warren Buffet wrote this book. It is called the bible of the stock market for good reason.

The fundamentals of the stock markets are explained brilliantly. There are 3 parts to this book.

First, investing approach taken by a defensive investor. Second and Third concepts explain market behavior and risk management.

3. Beating the street- Peter Lynch

Peter Lynch, the star mutual fund manager of the Magellan fund at Fidelity Investments, comes up with another classic book.

This book is excellent for long term value investment opportunities and helpful to individual investors. It explains the fundamentals of picking your stock in a very simple language.

4. The Warren Buffet Way- Robert G. Hagstrom

The best book to learn to invest the way Warren Buffet does it diving deep into his way of investing in stocks.

The simple language of the book makes it easier to understand and follow. Simply put you can invest how Warren Buffet invests and do it without those high faulting words confusing you.

Stock market investment books by Indian authors

The following books talk more about investing from an Indian market perspective and are great reads for investing in India. They also cover the basics of investing in the Indian Market.

5. Stocks to Riches – Parag Parikh

The entire truth of the stock market in India is explained by Mr. Parikh excellently in the book.

The book itself is written in a very simple and understandable language. The book highlights the mistakes you could make as an amateur investor. Remember, learning from your own mistakes is not free in the stock market as a lot of money is at the stake.

6. How to avoid loss and earn consistently in the stock market – Prasenjit Paul

The author Mr. Prasenjit Paul gives a more personal take on investing in the Indian stock market and strategies that have helped him get consistent returns from the market. The highlight of the book is a 2 min strategy to shortlist/reject stocks prior to any detailed analysis, explained in very simple terms.

7. Value Investing and behavioral finance – Parag Parikh

This 12 chapter book is well structured and contains all details related to the Indian market. The major focus of the book is value investing and manifests that over the long term, value stocks have given best returns to its investors.

The book concentrates on the much-needed topics which most internet blogs and websites miss out on.

For someone looking to invest in the Indian stock market, this is a must.

8. Bulls, Bears and Other Beasts – Santosh Nair

The book focuses on the exciting journey through Dalal Street giving a brief history of the Indian stock market post liberalization.

This book helps to understand the financial health of the country as well as covers all the events- from tech booms and tax evasion to banks and money laundering; scams and crashes to fixers and investors, that led up to the far more sterile stock-market operations of the present day.

9. Investing in India – Rahul Sarogi

The book focuses on the value investing opportunities in the country today explained by Mr. Rahul Sarogi, a value investor and managing director of Atyant Capital. The book highlights the investment opportunities in India today especially the untapped potential and how you can look at it.

Mr. Sarogi explains the five criteria to separate out the value stocks- capital allocation, business fundamentals, financial strength, and relative opportunity.

The book also explains the government, politics and other influences to market in detail to take you through the whole ecosystem of investing in the stock market.

Stock market investment books in Hindi

10. The Intelligent Investor (Hindi Edition)- Benjamin Graham

This classic from Mr. Benjamin Graham, this 1934 book explains got beginners can become intelligent investors by simply analyzing company and hedging their long term risks. The major focus of the book is not short term gains but long term gains.

11. Share Market Se Kaise Banaye Mene 10 Crore (Hindi)-Nikolas Darvas

Nikolas Daravas, at the age of only 39, earned 10 Crores from the share market, that too by investing a very small amount.

A classic book in the share market world, in the book he has covered the techniques and experiences related to this incident in this book. The book is very simple and explains all the rules of investing in a simple manner.

12. Kaise Stock Market Main Nivesh Kare – HINDI (Hindi) Hardcover –CNBC TV18 (Author)

The book is a guide to help you invest your hard earned money in the right place. The book explains the basics of investing along with the pros and cons that come with it.

13. Tradeniti: Kaise Bane Safal Professional Trader-Yuvraj Kalshetti

Written by Yuvraj Kalshetti, an advance Diplomat in the global capital market, this book explains the Basics of capital markets ( Share, Commodity, Currency and F&O ).

Tradeniti helps explains the technical analysis aspect of trading and traded analysis systems used worldwide. It explains the history of Technical Analysis, Technical analysis basics, candles, formations, impact and psychology behind technical aspects. Fundamental analysis is also covered by the book since it is a tool used by most investors globally.

Best stock trading books in India

14. Guide To Indian Stock Market- Jitendra Gala

The book is all about investing your hard earned cash. It helps you make smart decisions and not invest randomly. The book specifies sectors which will help give you high returns so as to help you make smarter decisions.

15. Everything You Wanted to Know About Stock Market Investing-CNBC TV 18

The book uses simple Financial language and avoids scary jargon to cover all aspects of the stock market investing.

From financial planning and the impact of inflation on investments, from equity investing strategies like top-down and bottom-up investing etc. to risk mitigation measures like value averaging, using market volatility, this book helps give total knowledge of all things investing.

The book helps in making the complicated task of stock investment simple and enjoyable with major rewards for you at the end. It is most definitely the first step for the beginners and an actual trigger point for those watching from the sidelines.

Happy investing!

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are of the author and do not reflect those of Groww.