How I read 50+ books during the pandemic lockdown and how it has helped me as an investor. Part- 1

Let's face it. The pandemic has caused unimaginable suffering and loss to humankind. This has been a Black Swan event that has defied all the predictions, forecasts, and planning by the best economists, politicians, leaders, and the general population.

Most of us were confined to our homes with either work from home or online classes etc.

During the first few weeks of the lockdown, like almost everyone I knew, I was blaming the Government, the Virus, the System, etc. for being locked up in the house and not being able to lead a normal life.

I had two choices to spend the excess time that I had due to lack of commute, getting ready for work, and other chores. Either I could spend it binge-watching Netflix, overeating, and listen to senseless debates and news on TV, OR use this time to improve myself as an Investor.

So, to cut the story short, I started (RE)-reading the classics of fundamental investment like The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham, and David Dodd.

I have read them multiple times over the years but each time I read them again, I find something new.

This led me to start reading most of my favorite books again. 

1. Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Peter D. Kaufman
2. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
3. Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham
4. One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch
5. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher
6. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda
7. Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein
8. Essays of Warren Buffett by Lawrence A. Cunningham
9. Bhagavad Gita: Yatharoop - Hindi by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
10. The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran
11. All I Want To Know Is Where I’m Going To Die So I’ll Never Go There by Peter Bevelin
12. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
13. The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks
14. Hinduism - Ritual, Reason and Beyond by Ashok Mishra
15. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
16. Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin
17. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
18. Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
19. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein
20. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay
21. Investing – The Last Liberal Art by Robert G. Hagstrom
22. The Manual of Ideas: The Proven Framework for Finding the Best Value Investments by John Mihaljevic
23. Financial Shenanigans by Howard M. Schilit
24. A Random Walk Down Wall Street – The Time–Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel
25. Where Are the Customers' Yachts? or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street by Fred Schwed

The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks

Just reading these books was not enough.

 

I took notes, highlighted important sections, and

created questions for myself after reading each book.

This really helped me find out and collate the important ideas from each book.

Each day, I read up to 3 hours, sometimes less, sometimes more depending on my work commitments and other tasks.

This exercise helped me read and absorb the priceless wisdom from the greatest investors that ever lived on this planet. I felt like I was in a classroom and the Gods of Investment were giving me private lessons to survive and deal in this chaotic world of Capitalism.

I ended up using the knowledge gained by this exercise to totally rethink my life in terms of not just Wants but Assets and Liabilities. 

Some of you might be curious about how the books related to Hinduism helped me become a better investor.  Religion for me is not just following rituals and traditions. I believe that Hinduism is not just a religion but a way of life i.e. Sanatana Dharma. 

Being closer to my religion has helped me focus on the most important things of life without worrying about what others are doing in the markets and in life. By reading these books, I discovered the path to mental peace, simplicity, and minimalism and the focus on efforts and good deeds with no expectation of the outcome. 

This is extremely true in the world of investing. We don't have any control over interest rates, inflation rates, Macro and Microeconomics factors, and Geo-political situations. These factors can make or break our ROI CAGR without any fault of ours. So the best we can do as retail investors is: doing due diligence, finding good businesses at cheap or fair valuations, and buying their stocks as if we are allocating capital in a business.

 I know some of your friends would have made good money in this Bull Market and you would be feeling bad about missing out on such an opportunity. But trust Warren Buffet when he says "It’s only when the tide goes out that you discover who has been swimming naked."

For most of you who are first-time investors and have not seen a Bear market, my words will sound foolish. 

You are more than welcome to ignore it and look for the next tip on Telegram channels and Instagram pages.  

For the rest, who actually want to get rich slowly, I would highly recommend reading these masterpieces at least once. 

I will talk about the other books that I read during the lockdown in the next part of the blog. Happy Investing.