Best Stock Market Books for Every Level

The stock market is an incredibly overwhelming place. That is even to those who have been working with the market intimately for years. Beginners and experienced entrepreneurs and investors reach similar struggles whenever they dive into the market depths, and it can be hard to navigate back to the surface.

When I first jumped into the stock market, I felt myself floundering, barely treading the rough waters around me. Even today, I find that I still rely on the lessons I learn from my life preserver: the best stock market books around.

From asset allocation to managing risks, there is a lot to be learned about the stock market. Sure, spending years and lots of money on my own experimentation would guide me to these same lessons, but why would I skip out on the valuable information that is already out there?

The industry is teeming with experts, and many of them are ready to share their ideas, knowledge, and inspirations with willing minds. That is why plenty of stock market books have been written, covering a wide variety of topics within this massive industry. Some of them include:

• History of the stock market
• Crashes and what effects they had
• Trading advice
• How the market functions and fluctuates
• Investor secrets to looking at the market

When considered more broadly, it’s clear that there is no limit to the number of topics that can be covered. All of those topics can provide something useful to you and I. Despite having thousands of books out there about the stock market, I still cannot possibly read them all.

Today, it would be ideal for us to rely on this list of the best stock market books as recommended by valuable members of the CEO Library community. These members have shared their talent through their recommendations.

Ask.

Then, when it comes to telling stories and putting things together in a structure, “The Brain Audit” is a good book; “Then Coffee and Kale Compete” – that’s about jobs to be done; “The Ask Method” – that’s also another very important one, pretty good when it comes to putting your thoughts together and putting marketing templates together, like landing pages, anything like this.

Louis Grenier

Podcaster in Chief/Everyone Hates Marketers

Badass Your Brand: The Impatient Entrepreneur’s Guide to Turning Expertise into Profit

Finally, a book that tells you how to put up a velvet rope in front of your business and get more of the clients you want and deserve! Whether you're building a services business or a personal brand, this book provides a roadmap to making bank, in a smart and authentic way. Pia is a total pro (and a laugh riot). I can't wait to recommend this book to every entrepreneur who feels stuck. Pia got unstuck, and so can you.

Julia Pimsleur

Founder/Little Pim

Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business

I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written.

Bogdana Butnar

Head of Strategy/Poke

Hot Seat: The Startup CEO Guidebook

It's solid, realistic advice from someone who definitely knows what he's talking about.

Kristen Hamilton

Co-founder/Koru

Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies

The case studies you’re about to explore and the tools you’re about to gain have never been more relevant. This is an ideal moment to be reading this book.

Bill Gates

Founder/Microsoft

When the Wolves Bite: Two Billionaires, One Company, and an Epic Wall Street Battle

Wall Street"-esque battle between Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn over unlikely target Herbalife. Sip a delicious Herbal Aloe Shake while reading.

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

One book that actually helped me a great deal in the way I was communicating with my products and marketing, is Contagious by Jonah Berger, in which he describes “why things catch on” or “how to create viral content”. I did apply lots of his ideas and even inspired my team to work on those principles both online and offline. I remember reading it and taking notes (things I actually rarely do when I read, I like to be in it and absorb without being distracted by nothing) and really trying to soak in those principles. and I think I did.

Nicolas Jouvenceau

CEO/Pink Diamonds Boutique

Perennial Seller

Autodidact extraordinaire Ryan Holiday strips away the ridiculous obsession with contemporary bestsellerdom and gets to the heart and soul of individual genius, creating timeless classics that change people's lives year after year after year. For those of us who wish to summon the courage and forgo instant validation in favor of deep and original creation, this book offers not just the Why, but the Who. A must-read for creators of all persuasions.

Shawn Coyne

Co-founder/Black Irish Books

Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

This primer on how to hack the media zeitgeist is so incredibly accurate, it just might render mainstream media completely useless. As opposed to mostly useless like it is now.

Drew Curtis

Founder/Fark.com

Engage!: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

One of the five books Jeff recommends to young people interested in his career path.

Jeff Gibbard

Chief Brand Officer/From The Future

Badass: Making Users Awesome

How to make amazing products. Super fun to read too.

Lewis Smith

Entrepreneur & Developer/BodyTracker

Branding Basics for Small Business

Marketing no longer means advertising, and brand no longer means logo. Your brand is the promise, the experience, the interactions, and the expectation people have for you. Maria Ross understands this, and teaches you how to think about this essential element of your business.

Seth Godin

Author & Entrepreneur

Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization (Que Biz-Tech)

One of the five books Jeff recommends to young people interested in his career path.

Jeff Gibbard

Chief Brand Officer/From The Future

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth

"Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" by T Harv Eker has also had a radical impact on me in recent years and on my attitude towards money. I find it almost embarrassing to recommend because the ideas are very radical and "woo woo", but if you stick with it, it can change your perspective totally.

Lewis Smith

Entrepreneur & Developer/BodyTracker

Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future

In Buffett's 2002 shareholder letter, he explains "how accounting standards and audit quality have eroded in recent years." Specifically, he cites the downfall of Arthur Andersen accounting. "The details of this sordid affair are related in Levitt's excellent book, Take on the Street," Buffett writes.

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

From Impossible To Inevitable: How Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue

Question: What books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path?

Answer:

• Rework, Getting real and Remote - The combo from Fried and DHH.
• Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
• From Impossible To Inevitable by Aaron Ross & Jason Lemkin
• How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross
• Content Machine by Dan Norris
• Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
• Contagious by Jonah Berger

Vincenzo Ruggiero

CEO/Prospect.io

Design to Grow: How Coca-Cola Learned to Combine Scale and Agility

A book called Design to Grow studies the difference of large corporations who have scale versus small startups who have agility. As the CEO of Mailbird, a small tech startup looking to take on email domination for the world, there were some valuable lessons to learn from how big corporations like Coca Cola learned to design their systems, localize them and iterate to scale their business going from a cola company to an all beverage company.

Andrea Loubier

CEO/MailBird

How to Sell Your Way Through Life

The top three for me would be Napoleon Hill "Outwitting the Devil", basically any Napoleon Hill books. "Think and Grow Rich", "How to Sell Your Way Through Life", "The Laws of Success." Really, really amazing books, especially when you're an entrepreneur. It's like I think a must to read.

David Henzel

Co-Founder/MaxCDN

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Recommended by Marc Goodman in "Tools of Titans".

Marc Goodman

Founder/Future Crimes Institute

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

It taught me so much about marketing and human psychology. I keep referring back to that book all the time. It has been instrumental in inspiring the marketing strategies I used to propel Rails and Basecamp.

David Heinemeier Hansson

Co-Founder/Basecamp

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