Lustylad is exactly right. You need to learn something about how markets work. Investing in or trading risk assets is not for snowflakes. Financial markets have a way of seeming quite unforgiving to the naive and the inexperienced. If you don't want to someday be in your 70s or 80s and broke, you should make an effort to learn how they work.
Here are a few places to start:
The Intelligent Investor, by the legendary Benjamin Graham. The original edition was written way back in 1949. Although much has changed since then, so very much remains the same. (I decided many years ago that if Buffett refers to a book as probably the best book on investments ever published, I'm damned sure going to read it!)
A Random Walk Down Wall Street (1973 with several updated editions) by Burt Malkiel. It should disabuse you of the notion that frequently trading in and out of markets on a whim is easy, or even remotely wise, especially for naive amateur investors.
Contrarian Investment Strategy (1980 with an excellent sequel around 1985) by David Dreman. It's a legendary work on value investing, and I've sometimes said that I credit it with adding at least a few percentage points to my net worth.
More recently:
Mastering the Market Cycle by Howard Marks (2018). The author has been highly lauded by both Buffett and Munger. (Need I say more?)
And, just for history's sake, going way back (1841!)
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowns by Charles Mackay. A highly entertaining read; a classic. (And a must-read for every student of market history!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrao...ness_of_Crowds
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Originally Posted by CaptainMidnight
Chung Tran was most likely being sarcastic. You're respected by most on this board, probably including CT.
I haven't and won't read A Random Walk Down Wall Street. That would be like Lusty Lad reading the Communist Manifesto. I don't believe in the efficient market hypothesis.
I've read the rest save Marks' book and agree they're worthwhile. I believe though that buying shares just based on historical ratios like price/book, price earnings, and market cap/net current assets can backfire. You might come away with that view after reading the Intelligent Investor and The New Contrarian Investment Strategy. It pays to do your research and try to understand the company, like you would if you were buying any business.
For more advanced students, the following are worthwhile,
1. Security Analysis by Graham and Dodd. This is a textbook. Graham's case studies are instructive.
2. Value Investing, from Graham to Buffett and Beyond, by Greenwald et al.
3. and 4. Two books by Greenblatt with deceptive titles, The Little Book that Beats the Market and You Can Be a Stock Market Genius
5. Margin of Safety, by Seth Klarman
6. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, by Philip Fisher. Fisher didn't just look at numbers. He'd visit companies with legal pads and take pages of notes. And talk to competitors, employees, suppliers, etc.
The first four books were written by people who taught at Colombia business school. Graham, Greenblatt, Klarman and Fisher all had excellent records as investors.
If you were only going to read one, I'd recommend Greenwald's book. He's most likely a terrible investor from what I've heard, but remember the adage "Those who can't do teach." Well, he inherited the "Value Investing" mantle at Colombia from Graham and successors, and he's a damn good teacher. I like his case studies. Also the concepts in the book, which come in part from talking with people like Buffett (also a Colombia grad) are worth considering. They include calculating cycle-adjusted earnings, substituting maintenance capex for depreciation, looking at the value of a company's assets and liabilities piece-by-piece, and determining how fast a company is able to grow and still generate good returns.