Best Picks from Warren Buffett's Bookshelf

My friend - and now partner - Jorge Paulo and his team are among the best businessmen in the world. He is a fantastic person and his story should be an inspiration to everybody, as it is for me." - Warren Buffett

In just over forty years, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira built the biggest empire in the history of Brazilian capitalism and launched themselves onto the world stage in an unprecedented way.

Over the past five years, they have acquired no fewer than three globally-recognized American brands: Budweiser, Burger King and Heinz. This has been achieved as discreetly as possible and they have shunned any personal publicity.

The management method they developed, which has been zealously followed by their employees, is based on meritocracy, simplicity and constant cost cutting.

Their culture is as efficient as it is merciless and leaves no room for mediocre performances. On the other hand, those who bring in exceptional results have the chance to become company partners and make a fortune.

Dream Big presents a detailed behind-the-scenes portrait of the meteoric rise of these three businessmen, from the founding of Banco Garantia in the 1970s to the present day.

In 1971, when the Brazilian stock market was going through an euphoria, Harvard graduate, tennis champion and underwater fishing enthusiast from Rio de Janeiro Jorge Paulo Lemann decided to start a new business. He assembled some partners and put out a newspaper ad: "Brokerage wanted." Days later, Lemann began running what would become the cornerstone of his fortune and those of over 200 other people. Its name was Garantia.

The "Garantia model" was based on businesses that impressed Lemann, such as Goldman Sachs in finance and Walmart in retail. Its philosophy gave the best workers the opportunity to become shareholders.

The Socs's idea of having a good time is beating up greasers like Ponyboy. Ponyboy knows what to expect and knows he can count on his brothers and friends - until the night someone takes things too far. A ground-breaking, timeless story from a brilliant writer.

This book explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways.

EXPANDED THIRD EDITION includes Charlie's 2007 USC Law School Commencement address. Edited by Peter D. Kaufman. Brand New.

Investing is all about common sense. Owning a diversified portfolio of stocks and holding it for the long term is a winner's game. Trying to beat the stock market is theoretically a zero-sum game (for every winner, there must be a loser), but after the substantial costs of investing are deducted, it becomes a loser's game. Common sense tells us--and history confirms--that the simplest and most efficient investment strategy is to buy and hold all of the nation's publicly held businesses at very low cost. The classic index fund that owns this market portfolio is the only investment that guarantees you with your fair share of stock market returns. To learn how to make index investing work for you, there's no better mentor than legendary mutual fund industry veteran John C. Bogle. Over the course of his long career, Bogle--founder of the Vanguard Group and creator of the world's first index mutual fund--has relied primarily on index investing to help Vanguard's cl...

Essays In Persuasion written by legendary author John Maynard Keynes is widely considered to be one of the top 100 greatest books of all time. This great classic will surely attract a whole new generation of readers. For many, Essays In Persuasion is required reading for various courses and curriculums. And for others who simply enjoy reading timeless piees of classic literature, this gem by John Maynard Keynes is highly recommended. Published by Classic House Books and beautifully produced, Essays In Persuasion would make an ideal gift and it should be a part of everyone's personal library.

"Once I picked it up I did not put it down until I finished. . . . What Schwed has done is capture fully-in deceptively clean language-the lunacy at the heart of the investment business."
-- From the Foreword by Michael Lewis, Bestselling author of Liar's Poker

". . . one of the funniest books ever written about Wall Street."
-- Jane Bryant Quinn, The Washington Post

"How great to have a reissue of a hilarious classic that proves the more things change the more they stay the same. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."
-- Michael Bloomberg

"It's amazing how well Schwed's book is holding up after fifty-five years. About the only thing that's changed on Wall Street is that computers have replaced pencils and graph paper. Otherwise, the basics are the same. The investor's need to believe somebody is matched by the financial advisor's need to make a nice living. If one of them has to be disappointed, it's bound to be the former."
-- John Rothchild, Author, A Fool and His Money, Financial Columnist, Time magazine

Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street.

Warren E. Buffett first took control of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a small textile company, in April of 1965. A share changed hands for around $18 at the time. Fifty letters to shareholders later, the same share traded for $226,000, compounding investor capital at just under 21% per year-a multiplier of 12,556 times.

This limited "50th Anniversary" hardcover edition is a dust-jacket-less midnight black with gold embossing. Like the paperback version, it compiles the full, un-edited versions of every one of Warren Buffett's letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway.

There are hundreds of books about Buffett's life, advice, and methods. These are his actual letters -- word for word -- a "lesson plan" of his views on business and investing. You can find most of the letters for free on Berkshire's website, but this compiles them into a well-designed, easily readable format.

Features of the book:
* 50 years of Warren Buffett's letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (769 pages)
* Tabulated letter years so you can easily flip to the desired letter
* Topics index
* Company index
* Person index
* Charts of: Growth in Berkshire's book value and market price relative to benchmarks, Insurance float and performance, the operating businesses of Berkshire

Available for the first time ever in trade paperback, Dale Carnegie's enduring classic, the inspirational personal development guide that shows how to achieve lifelong success. One of the top-selling books of all time, "How to Win Friends & Influence People" has sold more than 15 million copies in all its editions.

"A road map for investing that I have now been following for 57 years."
--From the Foreword by Warren E. Buffett

First published in 1934, Security Analysis is one of the most influential financial books ever written. Selling more than one million copies through five editions, it has provided generations of investors with the timeless value investing philosophy and techniques of Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd.

As relevant today as when they first appeared nearly 75 years ago, the teachings of Benjamin Graham, “the father of value investing,” have withstood the test of time across a wide diversity of market conditions, countries, and asset classes.

This new sixth edition, based on the classic 1940 version, is enhanced with 200 additional pages of commentary from some of today's leading Wall Street money managers. These masters of value investing explain why the principles and techniques of Graham and Dodd are still highly relevant even in today's vastly different markets. The contributor list includes:

• Seth A. Klarman, president of The Baupost Group, L.L.C. and author of Margin of Safety
• James Grant, founder of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, general partner of Nippon Partners
• Jeffrey M. Laderman, twenty-five year veteran of BusinessWeek
• Roger Lowenstein, author of Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist and When America Aged and Outside Director, Sequoia Fund
• Howard S. Marks, CFA, Chairman and Co-Founder, Oaktree Capital Management L.P.
• J. Ezra Merkin, Managing Partner, Gabriel Capital Group .
• Bruce Berkowitz, Founder, Fairholme Capital Management.
• Glenn H. Greenberg, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Chieftain Capital Management
• Bruce Greenwald, Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Finance and Asset Management, Columbia Business School
• David Abrams, Managing Member, Abrams Capital

Featuring a foreword by Warren E. Buffett (in which he reveals that he has read the 1940 masterwork “at least four times”), this new edition of Security Analysis will reacquaint you with the foundations of value investing―more relevant than ever in the tumultuous 21st century markets.

" Business Adventures remains the best business book I've ever read." —Bill Gates, The Wall Street Journal What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety; these notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened. Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. Longtime New Yorker contributor John Brooks's insightful reportage is so full of personality and critical detail that whether he is looking at the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm, or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound, one gets the sense that history repeats itself. Five additional stories on equally fascinating subjects round out this wonderful collection that will both entertain and inform readers . . . Business Adventures is truly financial journalism at its liveliest and best.

In Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, Fisher shares his philosophy, offering valuable insights into the most fundamental and important aspects of buying and selling stock. Here are solid guidelines on when and what to buy, sound reasons for selling common stock, as well as critical information on profit margins and dividends. There is also Fisher's famous list of Top-Ten "Don'ts" for investors, complete with warnings against buying into promotional companies, over-stressing diversification, following the crowd, and buying stock just for the "tone" of its annual report.

This classic text is annotated to update Graham's timeless wisdom for today's market conditions... The greatest investment advisor 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.