Here are 51 books that Capital Returns fans have personally recommended if you like Capital Returns. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Investing for Growth: How to Make Money by Only Buying the Best Companies in the World - An Anthology of Investment Writing, 2010-20

Gautam Baid Author Of The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

From my list on value investing from a longtime investor.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the Founder of Stellar Wealth Partners, a SEBI-registered Research Analyst firm and small case manager for investors in the Indian stock market. I am the author of the international best-seller on value investing, The Joys of Compounding. Once a strong foundation is created for a business, owners don’t work for money. Rather, money works for them. As an investor, your money is working for you 24/7. You are becoming wealthier with each passing second, alongside the increasing intrinsic value of your businesses. An investor builds earnings power through a business ownership mindset. 

Gautam's book list on value investing from a longtime investor

Gautam Baid Why Gautam loves this book

Some people love to make successful investing seem more complicated than it really is. In this anthology of essays and letters written between 2010–20, Terry Smith makes the case for simply buying the best companies in the world. These are businesses that generate large amounts of cash and know what to do with it in the form of sound capital allocation. The result is a powerful compounding of returns for the long term.

This book serves as a good reiteration of the thinking and principles underpinning Smith’s investing approach, including his three-step investment mantra: “Buy good companies. Don’t overpay. Do nothing.” It also highlights the nuances of the process, including why Smith favors return on capital employed (ROCE) and free cash flow (FCF) yield as metrics for assessing companies and why Smith is less enamored of measures such as earnings per share (EPS).

By Terry Smith ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Investing for Growth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Buy good companies. Don't overpay. Do nothing.

Some people love to make successful investing seem more complicated than it really is. In this anthology of essays and letters written between 2010-20, leading fund manager Terry Smith delights in debunking the many myths of investing - and making the case for simply buying the best companies in the world.

These are businesses that generate serious amounts of cash and know what to do with it. The result is a powerful compounding of returns that is almost impossible to beat. Even better, they aren't going anywhere. Most have survived the Great Depression…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market

Gautam Baid Author Of The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

From my list on value investing from a longtime investor.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the Founder of Stellar Wealth Partners, a SEBI-registered Research Analyst firm and small case manager for investors in the Indian stock market. I am the author of the international best-seller on value investing, The Joys of Compounding. Once a strong foundation is created for a business, owners don’t work for money. Rather, money works for them. As an investor, your money is working for you 24/7. You are becoming wealthier with each passing second, alongside the increasing intrinsic value of your businesses. An investor builds earnings power through a business ownership mindset. 

Gautam's book list on value investing from a longtime investor

Gautam Baid Why Gautam loves this book

In this book, Peter Lynch teaches how a common investor can get great returns from his investment in the stock market if he follows a few general investing principles and a common-sense investing approach. Lynch believes that with a little research and steady discipline, every common person can outperform the so-called investment gurus and make good returns. He suggests that many great investments could be right under their nose, if the investor is ready to do some research. Most people just have to look around the place where they work or the spots where they visit to grab those opportunities. A common person is exposed to many interesting local companies and products years before professional investors would even hear of them. If these investors find and invest in these growing local companies, they can make handsome returns.

By Peter Lynch , John Rothchild ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked One Up on Wall Street as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Peter Lynch believes that average investors have advantages over Wall Street experts. Since the best opportunities can be found at the local mall or in their own places of employment, beginners have the chance to learn about potentially successful companies long before before professional analysts discover them. This headstart on the experts is what produces 'tenbaggers', the stocks that appreciate tenfold or more and turn an average stock portfolio into a star performer. In this fully updated edition of his classic bestseller, Lynch explains how to research stocks and offers easy-to-follow directions for sorting out the long shots from the…


Book cover of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings

Gautam Baid Author Of The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

From my list on value investing from a longtime investor.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the Founder of Stellar Wealth Partners, a SEBI-registered Research Analyst firm and small case manager for investors in the Indian stock market. I am the author of the international best-seller on value investing, The Joys of Compounding. Once a strong foundation is created for a business, owners don’t work for money. Rather, money works for them. As an investor, your money is working for you 24/7. You are becoming wealthier with each passing second, alongside the increasing intrinsic value of your businesses. An investor builds earnings power through a business ownership mindset. 

Gautam's book list on value investing from a longtime investor

Gautam Baid Why Gautam loves this book

There are in general two approaches to accumulating wealth in the stock market. One is to time the market, buying stocks when they are cheap, and selling when they are expensive. The other is to find outstanding companies and hold them for the long term. Fisher prefers the latter. He recommends that investors should focus on finding stocks that have the highest profit compared to risk. The public often misinterprets this as meaning stocks that are the most undervalued, rather than those with prospects for the highest growth for the longest duration. High growth over many years outweighs the advantages of an undervalued stock with no growth potential due to compounded returns.

By Philip A. Fisher ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Widely respected and admired, Philip Fisher is among the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost forty years ago, are not only studied and applied by today's financiers and investors, but are also regarded by many as gospel. This book is invaluable reading and has been since it was first published in 1958. The updated paperback retains the investment wisdom of the original edition and includes the perspectives of the author's son Ken Fisher, an investment guru in his own right in an expanded preface and introduction "I sought out Phil Fisher after reading his Common…


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Book cover of The Guardian of the Palace

The Guardian of the Palace by Steven J. Morris,

The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.

When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…

Book cover of You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits

Gautam Baid Author Of The Joys of Compounding: The Passionate Pursuit of Lifelong Learning

From my list on value investing from a longtime investor.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the Founder of Stellar Wealth Partners, a SEBI-registered Research Analyst firm and small case manager for investors in the Indian stock market. I am the author of the international best-seller on value investing, The Joys of Compounding. Once a strong foundation is created for a business, owners don’t work for money. Rather, money works for them. As an investor, your money is working for you 24/7. You are becoming wealthier with each passing second, alongside the increasing intrinsic value of your businesses. An investor builds earnings power through a business ownership mindset. 

Gautam's book list on value investing from a longtime investor

Gautam Baid Why Gautam loves this book

The book outlines an array of “special situations” that may offer very profitable opportunities, i.e. bankruptcies, restructurings, merger securities, and spinoffs, among others. Greenblatt underscores the importance of a set of basic ‘rules’ when delving into the universe of special situations: do your own work, don’t trust anyone, pick your spot and assess the downside, not the upside. The basic premise of the book is that it pays off to search for areas where there is a high probability of finding undervalued equities. You can make a lot of money sticking to the tried-and-true method of investing in and holding good companies for many years. However, if you are a more experienced investor looking for other areas to invest part of your portfolio in, this book will give you several new places to explore.

By Joel Greenblatt ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You Can Be a Stock Market Genius as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A comprehensive and practical guide to the stock market from a successful fund manager—filled with case studies, important background information, and all the tools you’ll need to become a stock market genius.

Fund manager Joel Greenblatt has been beating the Dow (with returns of 50 percent a year) for more than a decade. And now, in this highly accessible guide, he’s going to show you how to do it, too. You’re about to discover investment opportunities that portfolio managers, business-school professors, and top investment experts regularly miss—uncharted areas where the individual investor has a huge advantage over the Wall Street…


Book cover of The Star Principle: How it can make you rich

Guy Thomas Author Of Free Capital: How 12 private investors made millions in the stock market

From my list on making a fortune in the stock market.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been an independent investor for nearly 25 years. In my previous life as an employee, I was a research actuary for a firm of pension consultants, and then a university lecturer. I left my last academic job at the age of 35 because I had made enough money to survive, and freedom was worth more to me than a salary. FIRE (Financial Independence – Retire Early) is what it’s called these days, but with two differences. First, I’m not retired: I spend most of my time on investing, but entirely on my own terms. Second, and relatedly, I’m an active investor, albeit a cheap one, nearly as cheap as an index fund.

Guy's book list on making a fortune in the stock market

Guy Thomas Why Guy loves this book

A star business has market leadership of a niche, where the niche is itself growing fast. This is arguably close to a tautology, but it is also quite a rare thing to find.

This book is about how to spot these star businesses at an early stage, and the enormous returns which can flow from doing so. Much of my wealth has come from doing this a few times (probably largely by luck).

It also makes interesting suggestions about how to create and manage a star business, albeit this is not something that I’ve ever tried myself.

By Richard Koch ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Star Principle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Richard Koch has made over GBP100 million from spotting 'Star' businesses. In his new book, he shares the secrets of his success - and shows how you too can identify and enrich yourself from 'Stars'. Star businesses are ventures operating in a high-growth sector - and are the leaders in their niche of the market. Stars are rare. But with the help of this book and a little patience, you can find one, or create one yourself.

THE STAR PRINCIPLE is a vital book for any budding entrepreneur or investor (of grand or modest means). It is also invaluable for…


Book cover of Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts: Essentials for Buy-Side and Sell-Side Analysts

Guy Thomas Author Of Free Capital: How 12 private investors made millions in the stock market

From my list on making a fortune in the stock market.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been an independent investor for nearly 25 years. In my previous life as an employee, I was a research actuary for a firm of pension consultants, and then a university lecturer. I left my last academic job at the age of 35 because I had made enough money to survive, and freedom was worth more to me than a salary. FIRE (Financial Independence – Retire Early) is what it’s called these days, but with two differences. First, I’m not retired: I spend most of my time on investing, but entirely on my own terms. Second, and relatedly, I’m an active investor, albeit a cheap one, nearly as cheap as an index fund.

Guy's book list on making a fortune in the stock market

Guy Thomas Why Guy loves this book

This is the best book I know on the nitty-gritty detail of investment research. Some of the techniques and resources mentioned may not be accessible to the typical private investor, but I would pick out three general points.

First, the importance of managing your own time (see the whole of chapter 3). Second, the need to pick out, for each company the handful of variables that have the biggest influence on the stock price, and concentrate on researching those. Third, the need for any investment view to be backed by non-consensus data or insights – because without these, you only have only a hunch, and a hunch is not worth very much.

By James Valentine ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A real-world guide to becoming a top-performing equity analyst

Praise for Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts:

"Jim Valentine has taken his decades of experience as a highly successful security analyst and written an effective and comprehensive guide to doing the job right. Ionly wish I had this book by my side throughout my career." -- Byron R. Wien, Vice Chairman, Blackstone Advisory Partners LP

"Given the fast pace and high-pressure nature of the markets, analysts don't have the luxury to make mistakes. James J. Valentine's Best Practices for Equity ResearchAnalysts should be required reading for all new and experienced…


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Book cover of Oaky With a Hint of Murder

Oaky With a Hint of Murder by Dawn Brotherton,

Aury and Scott travel to the Finger Lakes in New York’s wine country to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings at the Songscape Winery. Disturbed furniture and curious noises are one thing, but when a customer winds up dead, it’s time to dig into the details and see…

Book cover of Red-Blooded Risk: The Secret History of Wall Street

Guy Thomas Author Of Free Capital: How 12 private investors made millions in the stock market

From my list on making a fortune in the stock market.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been an independent investor for nearly 25 years. In my previous life as an employee, I was a research actuary for a firm of pension consultants, and then a university lecturer. I left my last academic job at the age of 35 because I had made enough money to survive, and freedom was worth more to me than a salary. FIRE (Financial Independence – Retire Early) is what it’s called these days, but with two differences. First, I’m not retired: I spend most of my time on investing, but entirely on my own terms. Second, and relatedly, I’m an active investor, albeit a cheap one, nearly as cheap as an index fund.

Guy's book list on making a fortune in the stock market

Guy Thomas Why Guy loves this book

All investing is risk-taking, and this is the best book on risk-taking that I know. Not just risk-taking as mathematics or games (although both of those are important), but risk-taking as a philosophy of life.

I would pick out two main insights. First, risk is intrinsically neither good nor bad, it is just a dial you can turn up or down. Second, your aim should be neither to minimise nor maximise risk, but rather to take the right amount of risk, and so achieve what this book calls “risk ignition”.

One contextual caveat: the value I see here is a deep understanding of risk, not specific recipes.  

By Aaron Brown ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Red-Blooded Risk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An innovative guide that identifies what distinguishes the best financial risk takers from the rest

From 1987 to 1992, a small group of Wall Street quants invented an entirely new way of managing risk to maximize success: risk management for risk-takers. This is the secret that lets tiny quantitative edges create hedge fund billionaires, and defines the powerful modern global derivatives economy. The same practical techniques are still used today by risk-takers in finance as well as many other fields. Red-Blooded Risk examines this approach and offers valuable advice for the calculated risk-takers who need precise quantitative guidance that will…


Book cover of The Emotionally Intelligent Investor: How self-awareness, empathy and intuition drive performance

Guy Thomas Author Of Free Capital: How 12 private investors made millions in the stock market

From my list on making a fortune in the stock market.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been an independent investor for nearly 25 years. In my previous life as an employee, I was a research actuary for a firm of pension consultants, and then a university lecturer. I left my last academic job at the age of 35 because I had made enough money to survive, and freedom was worth more to me than a salary. FIRE (Financial Independence – Retire Early) is what it’s called these days, but with two differences. First, I’m not retired: I spend most of my time on investing, but entirely on my own terms. Second, and relatedly, I’m an active investor, albeit a cheap one, nearly as cheap as an index fund.

Guy's book list on making a fortune in the stock market

Guy Thomas Why Guy loves this book

This could be better written (too many page-length paragraphs), but it earns its place on this list because the topic is important and I don’t know of any better treatment.

Many investment pundits advocate rigid self-control: they say you should try to suppress all emotion in investment decision-making – which is probably infeasible, and in any case undesirable. This book suggests a higher aspiration: aim to have the right emotions, those which are accurately calibrated to the contours of truth.

By Ravee Mehta ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Emotionally Intelligent Investor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Emotionally Intelligent Investor challenges several long-held assumptions and beliefs, by asserting that a good investment approach starts with introspection. Too many investment gurus tell you to emulate their techniques despite the fact that you may have very different personality traits, motivations and biases. Would Shaquille O’Neal tell a short basketball player to play like him? This book provides a unique template for self-reflection and a framework for developing an investment approach that works best with who you are.Whereas the consensus opinion is that investing success comes from blocking out emotions and making purely rational decisions, the best money managers…


Book cover of Trader Vic--Methods of a Wall Street Master

Barbara Rockefeller Author Of Technical Analysis For Dummies

From my list on for traders using technical analysis.

Why am I passionate about this?

Economics isn't really a good starting point for financial market analysis for the simple reason that its models are wildly inaccurate. As behaviorial economists like Daniel Kahneman have been showing, irrationality and the inability to measure risk properly are a very big component of the investment and trading decisions. But statistical risk management is also sloppy when applied to human behavior because people are not objects that reliably behave the same way under similar circumstances. So when you read an economist about markets or an engineer about risk management, you're missing a lot of the story. In the end, technical analysis is fascinating because how and why humans behave is an enduring mystery.

Barbara's book list on for traders using technical analysis

Barbara Rockefeller Why Barbara loves this book

This book is a classic and the best of the many books written by traders describing trading situations and what they did to conquer the market. Sperandeo delivers concise, specific definitions of how he defines and uses trends with some of the clearest charts you will ever see. I find myself going back to some of the same pages over the years in which he discusses how to tell if a trend is undergoing a correction or is an authentic reversal.

By Victor Sperandeo , T. Sullivan Brown ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Trader Vic--Methods of a Wall Street Master as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Trader Vic -- Methods of a Wall Street Master Investment strategies from the man Barron's calls "The Ultimate Wall Street Pro" "Victor Sperandeo is gifted with one of the finest minds I know. No wonder he's compiled such an amazing record of success as a money manager. Every investor can benefit from the wisdom he offers in his new book. Don't miss it!" --Paul Tudor Jones Tudor Investment Corporation "Here's a simple review in three steps: 1. Buy this book! 2. Read this book! 3. See step 2. For those who can't take a hint, Victor Sperandeo with T. Sullivan…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of Algorithmic and High-Frequency Trading

Ernest P. Chan Author Of Quantitative Trading: How to Build Your Own Algorithmic Trading Business

From my list on quantitative trading for beginners.

Why am I passionate about this?

A noted quantitative hedge fund manager and quant finance author, Ernie is the founder of QTS Capital Management and Predictnow.ai. Previously he has applied his expertise in machine learning at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center’s Human Language Technologies group, at Morgan Stanley’s Data Mining and Artificial Intelligence Group, and at Credit Suisse’s Horizon Trading Group. Ernie was quoted by Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, and the CIO magazine, and interviewed on CNBC’s Closing Bell program. He is an adjunct faculty at Northwestern University’s Master’s in Data Science program and supervises student theses there. Ernie holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University.

Ernest's book list on quantitative trading for beginners

Ernest P. Chan Why Ernest loves this book

Finally, for those who are not afraid of math, they should read this book because there is a lot of heavy-duty math. The good news for the rest of us is you can ignore all the math and still get a lot out of it, especially knowledge about market microstructure and how to find the theoretically optimal trading strategies given some assumptions about the price dynamics. Even if you don’t want to or can’t solve those darn stochastic differential equations, you can still implement a numerical approximation. At the minimum, you will learn common trading lingo such as “walking the book” or “the ITCH feed”.

By Alvaro Cartea , Sebastian Jaimungal , Jose Penalva

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Algorithmic and High-Frequency Trading as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The design of trading algorithms requires sophisticated mathematical models backed up by reliable data. In this textbook, the authors develop models for algorithmic trading in contexts such as executing large orders, market making, targeting VWAP and other schedules, trading pairs or collection of assets, and executing in dark pools. These models are grounded on how the exchanges work, whether the algorithm is trading with better informed traders (adverse selection), and the type of information available to market participants at both ultra-high and low frequency. Algorithmic and High-Frequency Trading is the first book that combines sophisticated mathematical modelling, empirical facts and…


Book cover of Investing for Growth: How to Make Money by Only Buying the Best Companies in the World - An Anthology of Investment Writing, 2010-20
Book cover of One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market
Book cover of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in speculation, business cycles, and value investing?

Speculation 14 books
Business Cycles 11 books
Value Investing 9 books