Spring cleaning - Part 1

It is that time of the year - a time for me to cleanup and get rid of books that I have finished reading over the last year or books that I have no need for anymore. I plan to write, in a series of posts, on some of those books that deal with investing. Where I have already written on a book before, I will keep it very short.

• The Biotech Investor: How to profit from the Coming Boom in Biotechnology by Tom Abate: This should be the first book you read if you plan to invest in biotech. Please do not use this to go ahead and buy some stocks the next day, but as a great guide to all the factors that one needs to consider before investing in this volatile, but at the same time richly rewarding, sector.
  
  
• Stocking up on sin by Caroline Waxler: Just an ok book on this seemingly recession-free sector. I suggest borrowing to read, but wouldn't suggest stealing - that would be a sin! All the stocks in this sector have reached an extremely overvalued state in the last couple of years - so watch out for a bust here.
  
  
• Running Money by Andy Kessler : Be warned - you may fall off the chair reading this one. Funny, extremely cynical and a great read.
  
  
• Against the Gods,
  The (Mis)behavior of markets,
  A Random Walk down Wall Street : Refer to earlier posts on all the three.
  
  
• Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers,
  Adventure Capitalist : The Ultimate Road Trip,
  Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown : Travel books, whether directly or indirectly related to investing are a must if you are diversifying your holdings and plan to do so with a very long-term view. From these, you can slowly build a list of countries that hold promise down the road. It is very important to read multiple authors, from different continents when possible, to build a more balanced opinion about a country.
  
  Authors' biases/prejudices do show through. Some of these generalizations are equivalent to a foreign visitor to Neshoba County in the early 60's concluding that apartheid was legal in the United States - insulting to the target country.
  
  Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux is an example of a travel book that is not directly related to investing, but is valuable for its frank (and at times dark) viewpoint.
  
  
• The Fed: The inside story of how the world's most powerful financial institution drives the markets by Martin Mayer: Worried about all the talk of interest rate hikes, yield curves, yield gap but don't fully understand it ? Get away from those headlines and read this book.