This week marks 530 years since Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World. Intellectual curiosity and the spirit of adventure were the winds that swelled the sails of such a great enterprise. That same curiosity, inherent in all human beings, drives those of us gathered here to keep learning in order to better understand the world around us.
In this article, I briefly review the books I have been reading during the 3rd quarter of 2022. They are all graded from 1 to 100. I hope you will find some new ideas for the upcoming reads. Full list at the end of the post.
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1. Investing
The warren Buffett portfolio (55%)
It is very difficult to find a book on portfolio management. Actually, I haven't found one yet, apart from the ones dissenting on the modern portfolio theory, which in my opinion, is wrong from the moment it considers volatility as risk. This book makes several interesting points about Buffett's approach to portfolio management, but it remains a very superficial and generalist view.
Quality Investing (95%)
The best book I have read this quarter. Cunningham explains his process of identifying the intrinsic quality of companies with multiple examples. The book is divided into 3 parts: the foundations of great quality businesses, the patterns to find them, and the pitfalls and traps that we can find when investing in quality companies. These last two sections are an absolute masterpiece.
Lessons from the Titans (90%).
A look at 10 of the largest industrial companies by a former sell-side analyst from Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Lehman Brothers. It has a style very similar to the famous and wonderful The Outsiders by Thorndike. A very enjoyable and interesting read.
Constellation Software Letters to shareholders and Q&A (100%)
I add this brief review here, even though it is not a book, because of the importance they have. In these months I decided to re-read all of Mark Leonard's letters. A must for any investor and the benchmark for any analysis of an executive team or a correct incentive system.
2. Economy
Austrian school for investors (86%)
Like Mises' Human Action, this is not a light book for the novice investor. Rather, it is a book of economics in capital letters with the objective of serving as a framework for making better investment decisions. It is a magnificent book, to be read with calm and reflection.
Frédéric Bastiat: The Law, The State and Other Political Writings (85%)
Reading Bastiat and his reflections makes you realize how little society has advanced in the last 200 years in the defense of the basic rights of citizens, the real ones. Liberty, private property, and the use of the law by the state not as a defense of citizens against the State, but to guarantee our plunder.
3. Biographies
King of capital (79%)
The story of the foundation, beginnings and growth of Blackstone from the hand of its founders: Schwarzman and Peterson. As Luis Torras summarized, an interesting mix of a business and yellow press gossip story around the PE firm.
Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China's Tech Ambition (75%)
A light read to understand the origins of Tencent and its growth into an omnipotent empire not only in China, but around the world. A story that also covers the dynamics of the disruptive entrepreneurial environment in China, the different players, and their relationship with the other Chinese giant: Alibaba.
Churchill (65%)
A brief biography of a complex individual. Johnson's Churchill is not suitable for a first read on the character. It presupposes extensive knowledge about his life and relies more on qualitative and interior aspects of the character.
4. Geopolitics
El despertar de China (80%)
Luis Torras (@TorrasLuis) makes a brilliant introduction to the Asian giant for investors, trying to explain how China cannot be understood from a Western point of view without understanding its culture and mindset as a civilization. A pity it is not in English for a broader diffusion.
5. Other
Range (45%)
Not the style of book I enjoy reading. The book tries to show us the value of having knowledge in multiple areas, in a world where it seems that specialization is highly rewarded. Although the idea is attractive, the book ends up being a series of stories of various characters that only refute the author's thesis, without any kind of counterpoint and quite simplistic.
Thinking in Bets (53%)
Annie Duke's book is a bit of the same for me. It is not my style. However, seeing decisions as an array of optionality and probabilities is something worth giving it a thought and trying to draw your own conclusions.
How not to die (58%)
A slightly different book with a compilation of endless studies of the influence of food on the type of diseases that later develop in people, and what foods are "proven" to help prevent them. An interesting read for those interested in the subject, but with quite a few "buts" in my opinion.
And this is it. I hope I can update you at the end of the year with some other interesting books. I leave you the full list ordered and definitely encourage you to read any of the top 3 if you ever had the chance.
My list:
Constellation Software Letters to shareholders and Q&A (100%)
Quality Investing (95%)
Lessons from the Titans (90%)
Austrian school for investors (86%)
Frédéric Bastiat: The Law, The State and Other Political Writings (85%)
El despertar de China (80%)
King of capital (79%)
Influence Empire: Inside the Story of Tencent and China’s Tech Ambition (75%)
Churchill Paul Johnson 65%
How not to die (58%)
The warren Buffett portfolio (55%)
Thinking in Bets (53%)
Range (45%)
If you want to take a look to my previous reviews, feel free to check the post below:
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