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I just got back from tonight’s Bender Trust meeting (http://www.libor.rutgers.edu/bender.html). Bender Trust is an event held as part of the Little Investment Bankers of Rutgers (LIBOR) organization at my University. The competition, if you will, consists of picking a stock and presenting it to Bender Trust portfolio manager Mr. Francfort, expressing why you think the company is of value. I hear Mr. Francfort likes to tear the participants apart in terms of the questions he asks them, so my group is very motivated to know our pick (Middleby, Nasdaq: MIDD) the best we can. Another thing I noticed was how many of the participants were very well-versed in a multitude of industries trading in the stock market. I realize that my group and I are only freshman where as the rest of the participants are Juniors and Seniors. Nevertheless, I realize that if I really want to know how the market works I am going to have to follow it everyday. So, from now on I will wake up at 8:30am every weekday morning to catch the opening bell and perhaps catch the closing bell if I can. Also, I’ve added many books to my reading list for this summer. These include:
Think and Grow Rich
The Little Book that Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt
New Venture Creation by Jeffry A. Timmons
Losing my Virginity by Richard Branson
Reads by various authors including:
Buffett
Graham
Ben Franklin
Bill Miller
Popularity: 1% [?]
Rohail,
I really enjoyed “New Venture Creation” and highly recommend it to every entrepreneur (even though it doesn’t get as good reviews elsewhere as I’d expect).
By the way, if you’re going to read any book by Graham, both I and Warren Buffet would recommend “The Intelligent Investor” for the first and last read (you should read it more than once), lol.
Also, I would love to hear any updates on that competition! Why did you choose Middleby in the first place…? Hopefully you screened your this choice to begin with because it will be strenuous trying to prove the worth in such an investment if the value doesn’t exist.
I’m glad you asked. Perhaps I should make this the focus of my next post. “The Intelligent Investor”…I’ve definitely heard a lot about it and will add it to my list. I will definitely keep everyone updated on the competition and am looking forward to April 25th when it will take place.
Rohail,
Graham and Dodds security analysis and the intelligent investor are great, staples in long term growth investing, but the best book on stocks is “How to Make Money in Stocks” by William O’Neil. He also publishes Investors Business Daily, the best resource for researching stocks on the move. Market Wizards, New Market Wizards, and Stock Market Wizards by Jack Schwager are manditory reading as in Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, the speculator defined.
Hey Brad,
Thanks, I’ll definitely be adding those to my reading list. Looks like there’s going to be a lot of that this summer.