Another book question

[FishHooks]

Whats a good book, that would help me read charts like cash flow, assets, all those good things like you would see on yahoo finance. Recently I've been helping my uncle with investment decisions, relating to index funds and how much should be in different types of indexs and assets. However i'm just looking to get more familiar with individual stocks, he's asked me a couple questions on those and coudln't give him great answers with confidence, just info on PE and net income things like that, but would love to really dig deeper into things regarding individual stocks.

[FishHooks]

anyone?

[adios]

I don't know if this is relevant to your question but I learned what I know about corporate finances and financial statements by just reading various 10-Q's and then studying up on issues I didn't understand. I would start with a first year college course in Financial Accounting or equivalent because it's faster than the way I went about things. You need some basic accounting knowledge to have some sort of clue on understanding corporate financial statements IMO.

[GeorgeF]

"Random walk down wall street" possibly at your library explains the jargon and why it is mostly BS.

BTW there is no precise definition of PE. Earnings are calculated in many arbitrary and deceptive ways.

[Buckmulligan]

random walk is probably pretty bad for fundamental analysis/technical analysis stuff, as it doesn't go into depth and bashes it pretty hard. Investopedia.com has some good stuff.

[Dan Mezick]

This is the bible of fundamental business valuation. I have the 2nd edition and can vouch for the value of this book's content. It is comprehensive and complete. It's THE book for valuing a business you are considering for purchase. It's great for determining a equity's fair value.

Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

[FishHooks]

I've read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and I agree with a previous poster, its not good for the kind of stuff I'm looking for. I'm not a huge fan of day traning or picking individual stocks, but I would like to know what all the stats on the company really means.

[FishHooks]

allright might have to add this to my must read books, the list is piling up because during school I dont have much time to read. However this thing is $50 and is 700+ pages lol Kinda scary, anything else out there?

[DesertCat]

Ben Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" has a new edition, with commentary added by Jason Zweig and it's only $10.85 on Amazon. This book is one of the best introductions on how to invest in stocks, and Jason's commentary really updates it well.

More detailed information on how to analyse individual stocks and bonds can be found in Graham & Dodd's "Security Analysis", which is the bible for fundamental analysis of a company's true worth. This book is much more expensive, lengthy, difficult to read, etc, but well worth it once you are ready.

[rockrock]

Read anything by Swedroe or Ferri on why actively picking stocks for long term investing is a losers game.

You can't and won't win. (winning as defined by beating index).

See academic papers by Fama and French.

Basically, the sell-side of Wall Street is a scam.

"Lets take your money and my experience and turn it into my money and your experience" is their mission statement.

Most diehard indexers recommend value and small cap tilt and a big chunk of (half of equities) split in NON-US - i.e. equal weightings of VPL,VGK,EEM/VWO,EFV and VINEX.

Good luck