Recommended Reading for All Investors

When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, et. al. While not an investment book, it is the single best book out there to truly understand the psychology of the markets. Want to understand the bagholder mentality? Want to understand why sheep stubbornly refuse to see the truth about their bad decisions / incorrect beliefs? And want to understand why even in the face of proof to the contrary they believe ever more fiercely? Then this is the book for you.

Sold Short : Uncovering Deception in the Markets by Manuel Asensio. A wonderful look at some epic battles between corrupt management teams and short-biased research shop Asensio & Co. Many of the characters discussed, including Lindsay Rosenwald and Joe Podolski are still plying their trade today.

The Art of Short Selling by Kathryn Staley. Although not as outspoken as Asensio, Staley provides a great overview of the techniques used to find overvalued securities.

Tales from the Boom Boom Room by Susan Antilla. One of the best journalists covering how Wall Street firms actually operate wrote this eye-opening expose of the “boom boom rooms” inside both fly by night and established brokerage firms. Susan was also instrumental in exposing the shenanigans around mid 90s phenomenon Presstek and its stock promoting CEO Robert Howard . Keep up with Susan on Twitter too  @antillaview.