Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing Morningstar's Guide to Building Wealth and Winning... Book

Amazing book for beginners!

This book was recommended to me by a colleague after I showed some interest in stock investing. Prior to reading this book, I knew practically nothing about businesses or the market at all. I had no clue what an index was, or what equity, assets or liabilities are. On my own time I would follow the stock price of some companies that were always under the highlight (apple, google, facebook, tesla) and imagine what would happen if I were to speculate and try to beat the market. Oh, how naive I was....

Pat Dorsey introduced me to a whole other world that I didn't even know existed. I learnt what the purpose of stocks and the market really is. Why people invest, and why they don't. I learnt that this isn't just a game where one gets lucky by stealing or outsmarting the other person by properly timing his buy/sell, but that stock investing is actually a science. Though there are assumptions and speculations one needs to consider, there are objectively bad right and wrong decisions that one could make. It is difficult to express how excited I was about applying the lessons I learnt from this book to the real world, but I need to remember that patience is virtue.

In this book, I learnt about the inner workings of a company and it's management. I learnt about how finances are tracked. Most importantly, I learnt how to identify and evaluate good businesses. Seeing how stocks are always in the news, and that we all work for companies which are valued at something, regardless of whether they are public or private, I have gained a lot of insight into the world around me. In addition to learn a useful skill of what I should do with money, I also learnt how the company I work at operates, and believe that the skills I gained may also be very beneficial in the future if I choose to pursue entrepreneurship.

I've always had a keen interest as to how companies function, but never knew how to act on this impulse. While reading this book, I started watching videos on youtube, reading various articles, and just browsing investopedia to educate myself furthermore. I realize that this is just the beginning, but it ignited a spark that has turned into a roaring flame.

Some parts of the book I very dense, and even though I took my time reading through it, I still couldn't retain everything I learnt. That being said, it was written in such a way that I could use it as a reference until I familiarize myself very well with all the concepts it discusses. And if not, then the foundation that it has set up is priceless.

Even though this book is a little outdated given how much our economy has changed over the past 12 years, I still think that it's a must for anyone who is interested in learning about stock investing but knows nothing about it.