Growth investment videos, books, resources, and insights

[DaveT]

Growth investment videos, books, resources, and blog posts

I've shared in various threads some books and resources regarding growth investing but I thought it'd be helpful if we crowdsource a list of various resources that you've found super helpful in your journey of growth investing.

Now, by growth investing I'm talking the possibility of making many times return on your investment capital over a few to several year time period. This thread isn't meant to highlight the dangers of growth investing (ie., the need for diversification, etc). But rather, it's meant for those who are very serious about learning and want to spend significant time and energy to master the principles, lessons, skills and insights required to do well in growth investing. Thus, this topic and thread is not for everyone.

So, feel free to post the best resources you've found on growth investing. If you're posting your own personal lessons or insights, then please take some time and write as detailed post as possible so it can be a great resource for those later.

Cheers!

 

[DaveT]

Peter Lynch was the legendary manager of the Fidelity's Magellan Fund from 1977-1990.

This is fantastic video where Peter Lynch describes his investment philosophy and advice on growth investing.

 

[gym7rjm]

Dave, will you post the amazon links to the books you recommended in other areas? That way this thread will house all the relevant info! I started reading Andrew Keene's book and the other book you recommended is in my queue.

 

[DaveT]

Dave, will you post the amazon links to the books you recommended in other areas? That way this thread will house all the relevant info! I started reading Andrew Keene's book and the other book you recommended is in my queue.

I've mentioned Philip A. Fisher's Common Stock and Uncommon Profits a few times:
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings (Wiley Investment Classics): Philip A. Fisher, Kenneth L. Fisher: 9780471445500: Amazon.com: Books

Philip Fisher is considered one of the greatest investors of the past century (The Greatest Investors: Philip Fisher | Investopedia). More info at: Philip Arthur Fisher - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

His Common Stocks book is really, really good. It seems to be actually three books in one. My favorite part is Part III and creating an investment philosophy. If you're short on time, part III is only 50 pages and is some of the best writing on growth investing I've read.

In Part I (chapter 2), Fisher talks about "scuttlebutt" (meaning rumor or gossip). Fisher had a great strategy where he would get ground-level info on the company he was interested in. For example, he would ask customers of the company directly what they thought of the products. He would ask the company's supplies about the company. He would ask the company's competitors about the company. Basically, he would gather this data himself to give a more objective assessment of the company. A great company would pass this "scuttlebutt" test... meaning competitors would rave about the company, customers would rave about it, suppliers would rave about it, etc.

To me this explains why many on TMC have done well with TSLA stock. The reason being is that most of the posts on TMC are not about investing. The posts are mostly about the Model S (and Roadster prior). People just talk about the car, their experiences, comparisons to competitors, problems, suggestions, delivery times, VIN numbers, etc. All this info on TMC Fisher would consider ground-level "Scuttlebutt" and crucial in making an investment decision. We're getting real-time firsthand data and impressions from customers and would-be customers. We hear the complaints as well as the compliments. This all helps the TSLA investor to get a sense on how good the Model S really is and what prospects TSLA has for the future.

One of the main problems I see of pure investing sites (ie., forums, stocktwits, etc) is that the info is largely made up of investors who often try to push the stocks they have interest in. They are not true fans or users of the company's products.

AAPL was one of those investment opportunities you could have gotten in on based on "Scuttlebutt". People loved Macs and iPods and if you were part of the forums you'd see their level of fanaticism. And also you'd be in touch with the iPhone even before it was released (people were talking about it on Apple fan forums months ahead of the announcement).

Anyway, I'll end here with my thoughts but would love to hear what other people have to say after reading Common Stocks.

 

[gym7rjm]

I just finished reading Keene on the Market: Trade to Win Using Unusual Options Activity, Volatility, and Earnings

I downloaded this book a few weeks ago because I saw it recommended on the forum somewhere.

Overall I did not like the book and would not recommend it to others. My takeaway from reading was that the book was just a big advertisement for the author's online trading platform.

Here are some things I did not like:
- His descriptions of the option plays were poor. He would copy and paste descriptions and then just change a few words to make the definition fit. This made me mad because I was hoping to find insight into how he would suggest to use certain plays at certain times, but in the end it was just poor definitions of each play. I can find that on the internet for free... and described better.
- He spent a lot of time on basics, which were easy to understand, but then when it came to the more complex spreads he spent less time defining and took for granted that the reader would understand some of the complexities. It's as if the easy option plays were written for a super beginner, but then the complex plays were written for a veteran.
- At the end of the book he makes a point of saying that it doesn't really matter what the company does as long as you can make money from playing the options correctly. This point kind of flies in the face of how many of us invest and feel about Tesla. The reason I'm investing in Tesla is because of what they do and the management heading it up.
- The author writes way too much about his glory days on the CBOE and how big of a player he was.
- The real meat of the book where he describes his personal trading plan is packed into the last few chapters of the book. It's not really well detailed or expanded upon.

Here are some good points throughout the book:
- He cautions to make sure you understand what you are risking and what your potential reward is on each play made.
- He is a big proponent of not making plays that could blow out your account
- He suggests to look at several factors and then weight each play to determine how much to invest in that play. This will help minimize losses on plays that you calculated would have a lower chance of success and, conversely, maximize gains of plays that you calculated to have a high chance of success.



Now onto Philip A. Fisher's Common Stock and Uncommon Profits!!

 

[mblakele]

“But in its focus on the pioneers who shaped the industry, a history of hedge funds is necessarily biased toward winners.”

— More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
by Sebastian Mallaby

More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite

Quote shared via Kindle: "But in its focus on the pioneers who shaped the industry, a history of hedge funds is necessarily biased toward winners."

a.co

This seems like the best place to post about this book, now that I’ve finished it. Starting in the 1960s, Mallaby traces the history of hedge funds along with their strategies, personalities, successes, and disasters. As you might expect, our special friends Chanos and Einhorn make appearances. However TSLA does not.

This book filled in a few gaps in my historical knowledge, and gave me some insights into how hedge funds influence contemporary markets. Its main flaw to my mind is that it sometimes reads as a rousing defense of hedge funds against any hint of regulation. To be fair, though, the concluding chapter argues that large funds in illiquid trades are a danger to the broader market and should be regulated, as well as arguing against taking hedge funds public.