I recently got a question from a young person. He was looking at starting at uni and wondered what to do and in which direction to go.
I had no clue how to intelligently answer this, but what I do know is that none of my current knowledge of finance came from my university degree. None.
I picked everything up in my work and in reading. Twitter, blogs and most importantly; books.
Here are some of the books you should have read;
The Buy Side - It's a Wall Street tell-all story, from the rare perspective of the buy side by Turney Duff. Albeit I think the protagonist made ludicrous life choices, he demystify a lot.
The Fear Index - It's a fictional story set in the hedge fund world of Geneva, penned by Robert Harris. It's a thrill ride and Harris really nails the finance, which is very rewarding.
The Psychopath Test - In finance, you'll meet many borderline psychos, so I think knowing what a psychopath is, is really important. It's penned by Jon Ronson.
Market Wizard's 4 - Jack Schwager is the best finance writer there is. He talks to the biggest minds in finance and publish the interviews in books. I can't think of any book that offers as many insights into trading and asset management as the fourth edition. Be sure to not miss the prior three. This book should be part of the curriculum for any finance class.
Boomerang - Anything by Michael Lewis is great, but this tour the credit crunch is so great. So many important insights missed by everyone else.
Liar's Poker - While we're on Michael Lewis, you need to read this.
The Big Short - And this.
The Alpha Masters - This book by Maneet Ahuja won't win any awards, but offers up some interesting info on hedge funds, normally not found other places. A good read.
Why I left Goldman Sachs - Aaaah, yes. Greg Smith. I picked up this book sort of loathing him and found it to be a good read. It's nice to peak inside Goldman a bit and it's nice to understand that Goldman is in fact not even close to being a Vampire Squid. It's just a selection of smart people. Don't believe the hype.
Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World - Talking head William Cohen has written this brick of a book on Goldman. It's a very important book to read if you want to GET what Wall Street is all about. It leaves no stoned unturned. And Goldman is still no Vampire, Squid or Vampire Squid.
The Great Crash of 1929 - A nice little book on what went down back in the roaring 20s. Nice book by John Galbraith.
Barbarians at the Gate - The amazing story of RJR Nabisco. This is a good one. Also, I still don't get how it's legal to do an LBO.
When Money Dies - The unbelievable story about the Weimar Republic. By Adam Fergusson.
The Futures - The story behind futures trading. Very important to understand how they work and why they're here. Penned by Emily Lamberg.
My Life as a Quant - I don't care about HFT or quants anymore, but I did once and then this book was great.
The Quants - This one as well.
I'm sure I left out tons of books, but this is just to get some tips out there.