Investing Books

• The Interpretation of Financial Statements: by Benjamin Graham
  Benjamin Graham has been called the most important investment thinker of the twentieth century. As a master investor, pioneering stock analyst, and mentor to investment superstars, he has no peer. This book is his timeless guide to interpreting and understanding financial statements. "if you have precise information as to a company's present financial position and its past earnings record, you are better equipped to gauge its future possibilities. And this is the essential function and value of security analysis." Written just three years after his landmark Security Analysis, The Interpretation of Financial Statements gets to the heart of the master's ideas on value investing in astonishingly few pages. Readers will learn to analyze a company's balance sheets and income statements and arrive at a true understanding of its financial position and earnings record. Graham provides simple tests any reader can apply to determine the financial health and well-being of any company. This volume is an exact text replica of the first edition of The Interpretation of Financial Statements, published by Harper & Brothers in 1937. Highly practical and accessible, it is an essential guide for all business people--and makes the perfect companion volume to Graham's investment masterpiece The Intelligent Investor.

Investing Articles

• Jim Rogers: 'US government's inflation data is a sham by Jim Rogers
  "I expect interest rates in the US to go much, much, much higher over the next few years... If the world economy gets better, commodities are going to go up in price because there are shortages. If the world economy does not get better, you should own commodities, because [central banks] are going to print more money... Real assets are the way to protect yourself."

• Why stocks beat gold and bonds by Warren Buffett
  "Ideally, these assets should have the ability in inflationary times to deliver output that will retain its purchasing-power value while requiring a minimum of new capital investment. Farms, real estate, and many businesses such as Coca-Cola, IBM, and our own See's Candy meet that double-barreled test."

• Foreclosures Spread in USA, Idaho Home seizuers Soar 822%
  "The number of homes seized by lenders at least doubled in 19 states and more than tripled in seven of them ... New defaults are declining and appear to have bottomed in states where the crisis began, falling 43 percent in California, 37 percent in Florida and 27 percent in Nevada in the second quarter from a year earlier ... Home seizures soared 822 percent in Idaho in the second quarter, and the state had the seventh-highest foreclosure rate, according to RealtyTrac. Boise’s median house price was $140,100 in the quarter, down 34 percent from the peak $212,800 in 2007."

• USA, China and Japan Lead Manufacturing Output in 2008 by John Hunter
  "The first chart shows the USA's share of the manufacturing output, of the countries that manufactured over $185 billion in 2008, at 28.1% in 1990, 27.7% in 1995, 32% in 2000, 28% in 2005, 28% in 2006, 26% in 2007 and 24% in 2008. China’s share has grown from 4% in 1990, 6% in 1995, 10% in 2000, 13% in 2005, 14% in 2006, 16% in 2007 to 18% in 2008. Japan’s share has fallen from 22% in 1990 to 14% in 2008. The USA has about 4.5% of the world population, China about 20%."

• Middle Class Families from 1970-2005 by John Hunter, Elizabeth Warren
  Webcasts of speech by Elizabeth Warren. Interesting data. Looking at standard family (Mom, Dad and 2 kids from 1970 to 2005), in inflation adjusted dollars: earnings increased a great deal (due to women working much more) but disposable income decreased. This is because basic expenses increased: health care, housing, transportation… (and this is with assuming employer provided health care – which has really been decreasing in likelihood over time). Those families are also more deeply in debt and reliant on 2 incomes. And if either income producer losses their jobs the economics of the family fail. Which means the family is much more at risk.

Investing Web Sites and Resources

• Yahoo Finance
  

• Seeking Alpha
  "We handpick articles from the world's top market blogs, money managers, financial experts and investment newsletters - publishing approximately 250 articles daily. Seeking Alpha gives a voice to over 3000 contributors, providing access to the nation's most savvy and inquisitive investors."

• Curious Cat Investing and Economics Blog by John Hunter
  

• The Economist
  

• Bloomberg
  

• Calculated Risk
  Analysis of economic data.

• The Baseline Scenario
  The Baseline Scenario is dedicated to explaining some of the key issues in the global economy and developing concrete policy proposals. By Simon Johnso, James Kwak and Peter Boone.