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443 free books · links checked 16 Oct 2026
Last updated 16 Oct 2026
A thinly fictionalised account of trader Jesse Livermore's career, from beating the bucket shops to winning and losing fortunes on Wall Street. Still one of the most-read books on trading psychology.
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Charles Mackay's 1841 study of mass manias, including the Dutch tulip craze, the Mississippi Scheme and the South Sea Bubble. A classic warning about how crowds lose their heads over money.
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Banker Henry Clews looks back on half a century on Wall Street: the panics, the speculators and famous figures like Jay Gould and Commodore Vanderbilt.
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An early-1920s practical guide to stock speculation that covers how markets move, when to buy and sell, and the discipline a speculator needs.
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A 19th-century treatise on how stock exchange speculation works and on the judgement and temperament needed to succeed at it.
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G. C. Selden's 1912 book on investor psychology argues that prices move largely on what people think and feel. It explains crowd sentiment, why the public tends to buy near tops, and why a cool head and emotional discipline matter more than hope or excitement.
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Henry Howard Harper looks at the human side of stock market trading: greed, fear, hope and the mental habits that lead speculators to lose money.
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Harper's short follow-up to The Psychology of Speculation, written after the October–November 1929 crash. It reflects on what the collapse taught investors.
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Thomas Gibson traces the recurring cycles of speculation in stocks and commodities, with their causes, warning signs and consequences.
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Walter Bagehot's 1873 explanation of how the London money market and the Bank of England work. It gave central banks the rule to lend freely during a panic.
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Investment banker George Garr Henry sets out plain principles for investing and explains the main kinds of securities available to ordinary investors in the early 1900s.
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An early-20th-century guide to choosing safe, profitable stock exchange investments, written for investors new to the market.
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Charles Duguid explains in plain terms how the London Stock Exchange works: its members, dealings, settlement and the language of the market.
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A New York Stock Exchange member describes how the exchange works from the inside and defends its role in the economy.
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John Francis's 19th-century history of the London Stock Exchange covers the national debt, famous panics and the colourful characters of the market.
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A Victorian primer on money, banking and investment that explains the basics of handling money for the general reader.
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A short history of France's paper-money (assignat) experiment during the Revolution and the runaway inflation that followed.
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Future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis exposes how a small group of investment bankers controlled other people's money in early-1900s America.
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John Maynard Keynes argues, writing after World War I, for stable domestic prices over a rigid gold standard. It is an early statement of his monetary ideas.
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Keynes's first book (1913) analyses India's currency system and its move toward a gold-exchange standard.
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Hartley Withers explains how international finance works: how capital moves between countries, and the role of London as a financial centre.
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Adam Smith's 1776 founding work of economics. It covers the division of labour, markets, money, trade and the 'invisible hand'.
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F. Straker traces the history of England's banking system and the London money market, from its origins to the early 20th century.
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Thomas W. Lawson's insider exposé of the Amalgamated Copper affair and the stock-market practices of turn-of-the-century high finance.
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A memoir by promoter George Graham Rice of mining-stock speculation in the Goldfield, Nevada boom. It is a revealing look at how speculative promotions worked.
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NYSE president H. G. S. Noble's account of why the exchange closed when World War I broke out in 1914 and how it reopened.
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A collection of readings on money, banking and currency compiled as a companion text for economics students.
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An early-20th-century textbook explaining the principles and practical problems of banking, with a focus on the United States.
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W. A. Shaw's history of gold and silver currencies in Europe and America from 1252 to 1896.
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Benjamin M. Anderson's economic treatise on what gives money its value and how that value changes.
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Roger Babson argues that lasting prosperity rests on character, religion, integrity and industry, not just on money or natural resources.
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A history of the Bank of England and its influence on English banking and the money market.
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A 19th-century biography of financier Jay Gould, 'the Wizard of Wall Street', and his railroad and market dealings.
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Seventeen open-access research articles on financial markets, volatility and risk management around the world.
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An open-access book on how banks identify and manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.
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An open-access volume that combines econometric theory and applications to study the dynamics of financial crises.
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An open-access collection applying game theory and decision theory to problems in business, economics and finance.
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An open-access overview of cryptocurrencies: how they work, their innovations and risks, and where they may be heading.
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An open-access book on how fintech, from mobile banking to peer-to-peer lending, affects business and economic development.
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An open-access collection on the use of machine learning and AI in finance, including prediction, risk and trading.
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An open-access overview of global financial markets, covering systemic risk, regulation and financial innovation.
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An open-access collection of research on fintech and sustainable financing (third edition of the series).
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An open-access collection of advanced mathematical modelling methods used in economics, econometrics and finance.
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An open-access book on the future of banking, covering innovation, risk and financial inclusion.
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An open-access collection on monetary policy and its links to sustainable business and new technologies.
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An open-access book on commodity exchanges and how they can make agricultural markets more transparent and efficient.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation study of the characteristics shared by past stock-market winners and what they suggest for stock selection.
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A monograph on whether index futures, options and program trading changed the systematic risk of stock indexes.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation tutorial explaining how options and futures on financial assets work and how investors can use them.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation monograph on measuring and managing the costs of trading equities.
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Three groups of experts explain how factor models are used to explain and forecast security returns.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation study of managed futures and why their low correlation with stocks and bonds can help a portfolio.
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A tutorial on interest rate swaps and currency swaps: how they are structured, priced and used.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation monograph that re-examines whether holding stocks longer really reduces risk ('time diversification').
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation monograph on building term-structure models of interest rates using binomial trees.
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The authors examine why currency can be an attractive asset class for institutional investors and how to invest in it.
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A plain-language introduction to futures and options markets, covering how these derivatives work and how they are priced and used.
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A summary of research on life annuities and longevity insurance and their role in an optimal retirement portfolio.
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Explains how environmental markets such as emissions trading work and why they may form a new asset class.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation guide to how exchange-traded funds work and how to use them in portfolios.
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Leading writers draw lessons from financial market history for today's investors.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation study of equity valuation methods and their limits, including how risk and cash-flow expectations drive prices.
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A primer on alternative investments (hedge funds, private equity, real assets and more) and how they compare with traditional investing.
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Meir Statman's 'second generation' behavioural finance treats investors as normal rather than irrational and offers guidance for avoiding common errors.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation handbook on applying AI, machine learning, NLP and big data in investment management.
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An open-access Springer book on Islamic social and public finance (zakat, waqf and related tools) and monetary policy for inclusive welfare.
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An IsDB Institute textbook introducing the core principles of Islamic economics and Islamic finance.
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An IsDB Institute book on how artificial intelligence could transform Islamic finance.
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The IsDB / IFSB ten-year framework and strategies for developing the Islamic financial services industry.
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Richard D. Wyckoff (writing as Rollo Tape) teaches how to read the ticker tape to judge supply, demand and the next move in stock prices.
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Wyckoff describes his own methods for trading and investing in stocks and bonds, drawn from years in the market.
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A short work by Charles H. Dow, founder of the Wall Street Journal, on scientific approaches to stock speculation. It outlines ideas behind what became Dow Theory.
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William Peter Hamilton's 1922 classic sets out the Dow Theory and argues that stock market averages forecast business conditions.
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S. A. Nelson's 1903 book was the first to collect and explain Charles Dow's market editorials. It gave Dow Theory its name.
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A 19th-century guide to the realities and pitfalls of stock speculation.
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A practical early guide to stock speculation that stresses caution, common sense and avoiding typical mistakes.
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An economist's study of how speculation on American stock and produce exchanges works and what it does for the economy.
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A large exposé of fraudulent and doubtful speculative schemes in stocks, grain and bucket shops in early-1900s America.
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John Moody, founder of Moody's, explains how to invest on Wall Street with sound judgement.
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G. C. Selden's practical guide to investing in stocks and bonds for profit (revised third edition).
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Sereno S. Pratt explains how Wall Street worked: the stock exchange, brokers, banks and the money market.
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P. T. Barnum's lecture on making and keeping money, covering choosing the right work, avoiding debt and working hard.
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Russell Conwell's famous lecture argues that opportunity and wealth are often right where you already are, if you look.
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Walter Dill Scott applies psychology to raising the efficiency of workers and managers in business.
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Short life stories of American businessmen who did more than make money, from inventors to philanthropists.
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A practical guide to writing effective business letters, covering structure, tone and purpose.
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Volume 1 of a 1910 business reference set covering accounting, auditing, commercial law and management.
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Volume 1 of an early-1900s business administration series, focused on business economics and the principles of running a firm.
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Seymour Eaton's study guide to business practice, covering banking, finance, commercial law and trade.
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Benjamin Franklin's own story of rising from printer's apprentice to successful businessman and statesman, including his famous plan of 13 virtues.
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An open-access edited collection of research on entrepreneurship.
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A study of NYSE opening and closing prices that examines how market structure affects volatility and trading volume.
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A monograph that applies a new analytical method to valuing options on Treasury bond futures.
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A CFA Institute Research Foundation monograph on interest-rate models and the risk premiums built into interest-rate markets.
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James Allen's short 1903 classic argues that our thoughts shape our character, circumstances and success.
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Wallace D. Wattles's 1910 New Thought book presents a 'Certain Way' of thinking and acting that he claims leads to wealth.
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Samuel Smiles's 1859 bestseller celebrates self-reliance, perseverance and hard work through hundreds of short life stories.
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Samuel Smiles on frugality, saving and careful money management as the basis of independence.
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Samuel Smiles on character (duty, integrity, self-control and courage) as the true foundation of success.
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Marden's 'stepping-stones to fame and fortune': character, persistence and seizing opportunity.
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Marden on willpower as the engine of achievement, and how to strengthen it.
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Arnold Bennett's witty guide to using the hours outside work for self-improvement instead of letting them slip away.
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Arnold Bennett's essays on training the mind for efficiency, and other practical hints for daily life.
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Arnold Bennett's reflective essays on living well and managing oneself.
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Frank C. Haddock's self-development guide to willpower, personal magnetism and inner strength for success.
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The private notebooks of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: Stoic reflections on duty, self-control and calm in hard times.
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Epictetus's short Stoic handbook teaches that peace comes from focusing only on what is within our control.
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Elbert Hubbard's short 1899 essay praises the worker who takes initiative and gets the job done without excuses.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson's first essay collection, including the famous 'Self-Reliance' and 'Compensation'.
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Basil King's personal, spiritual approach to overcoming fear and worry.
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William George Jordan's short essays on calmness, self-control and inner strength.
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A practical course of lessons and exercises for training attention and mental focus (written as Theron Q. Dumont).
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Florence Scovel Shinn's 1925 spiritual self-help book on the power of words, faith and positive expectation.
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Sir John Lubbock on the everyday sources of happiness: books, friends, work, nature and duty. Part I appeared in 1887 and Part II, which includes the chapter on wealth, in 1889.
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Ralph Waldo Trine's New Thought classic on peace, power and plenty through spiritual harmony.
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Thomas Troward's lectures on the relationship between mind and material reality, a foundational New Thought text.
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Booker T. Washington's autobiography, from slavery to founding the Tuskegee Institute. It is a story of self-help and perseverance.
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Machiavelli's 1513 handbook on gaining and keeping power, a frank study of leadership and politics.
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Frederick Winslow Taylor's 1911 founding text of scientific management: studying work systematically to raise productivity.
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Fictional letters from a self-made Chicago meatpacker to his son, full of shrewd, humorous business and life advice.
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Andrew Carnegie tells his own story, from poor Scottish immigrant to steel magnate and philanthropist.
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Andrew Carnegie's essay arguing that the rich have a duty to use their surplus wealth for the public good.
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Franklin's famous speech of 'Father Abraham', which collects Poor Richard's sayings on industry, frugality and avoiding debt.
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Frederick Winslow Taylor's paper on applying systematic, scientific methods to running factories and workshops.
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Frank and Lillian Gilbreth on reducing unnecessary worker fatigue as a way to raise productivity and well-being.
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A practical early-1900s handbook of small business ideas and ways to earn money.
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A practical guide to the basics of managing: analysis, planning, organisation, handling staff and supervision.
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William Crosbie Hunter's short, aphoristic essays of practical business and life advice for employers and employees.
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A large 19th-century compendium of ideas for earning money, from small trades to starting a business.
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Herbert Casson's biography of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the mechanical reaper and builder of a farm machinery business.
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Henry Ford explains his philosophy of business, manufacturing, wages and service in this 1922 memoir.
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P. T. Barnum's autobiography of his life as a showman and entrepreneur, with its successes, failures and comebacks.
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Peter B. Kyne's short motivational story about a determined young salesman who completes an impossible task.
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Claude C. Hopkins, a pioneer of measured, 'scientific' advertising, tells the story of his career and the lessons he learned.
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Harry Gordon Selfridge, founder of the London department store, surveys the history of trade and merchants through the ages.
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First published in 1912, Harrington Emerson's classic sets out twelve principles of efficiency for organisations, from clear ideals to standardised operations.
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Frank B. Gilbreth explains scientific management in a simple question-and-answer format.
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Arthur Frederick Sheldon's 1911 textbook on the principles of salesmanship.
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Herbert N. Casson's 1911 study of advertising and selling from the standpoint of the new science of business management.
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Roger Babson's 1909 guide to using business statistics as 'barometers' to time investments and business decisions.
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Walter Dill Scott applies psychology to advertising: attention, memory, suggestion and persuasion.
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Ad-agency pioneer Earnest Elmo Calkins explains how the advertising business works.
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Walter Dill Scott's early (1903) exposition of the psychological principles behind effective advertising.
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Herbert N. Casson's lectures on applying efficiency methods to business and personal work.
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Harold Whitehead's practical textbook on the principles and methods of selling.
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P. T. Barnum's first autobiography (1855), covering his early careers as clerk, merchant, editor and showman.
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37signals' book on building successful web software by keeping things small, simple and fast. The publisher offers it free online.
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Basecamp's free book on how its teams shape, bet on and ship projects in six-week cycles instead of endless backlogs.
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A curated collection of Naval Ravikant's wisdom on building wealth and finding happiness. The author offers it free as a PDF, ePub and on the web.
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Sam Altman's short guide for founders on ideas, product, growth, team and execution, drawn from his time leading Y Combinator.
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Stripe Press's free online edition of Charlie Munger's collected talks and wisdom on investing, business and clear thinking.
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A short free ebook by professional trader Scott Redler, who has traded since 1999, on how he uses moving averages to read trends and analyse stocks.
A free ebook in which Scott Redler explains his tier system for managing trades and his 'personal alarm system' for cutting losing positions.
A free ebook of about 28 pages with 20 lessons on the attitude, discipline and work ethic behind a trading career. It ends with a printable cheat sheet.
Seneca's 124 letters to his friend Lucilius, often sold as Letters from a Stoic. Short, practical lessons on using time well, facing fear and loss, handling wealth and living by reason.
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Seneca's Stoic essays, including On the Shortness of Life, On Anger, On a Happy Life and On Peace of Mind. Their best-known claim: life is long enough if you stop wasting it.
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The full lectures of the Stoic teacher Epictetus, recorded by his student Arrian. It is the longer companion to the Enchiridion, on focusing only on what is in your control.
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By the author of As a Man Thinketh, this book links prosperity to self-control and right thinking. Allen covers overcoming worry, the power of thought, and lasting peace of mind.
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The 1899 classic that coined the phrase conspicuous consumption. Veblen shows how the wealthy spend to signal status, and why that habit spreads through the rest of society.
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The 1919 book that made Keynes famous. He quit the British Treasury over the Versailles treaty and warned that crushing war reparations on Germany would wreck Europe's economy.
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Henry Hazlitt's short, plain-English primer on looking past the obvious effect of an economic policy to its hidden costs, starting with the broken-window fallacy.
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Frédéric Bastiat's 1850 essay on the proper role of law: to protect life, liberty and property, not to take from some to give to others. A short classic of classical liberal economics.
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The 1927 Barron's book by Philip Carret, the fund manager Warren Buffett praised. It covers how markets work, how to judge stocks and bonds, and how to speculate with discipline instead of gambling.
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Gann's 1927 novel, subtitled Looking Back from 1940, about a young cotton trader. Traders have studied it for decades, believing Gann hid his market-timing ideas inside the story.
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A short 1916 story about a young advertising man who succeeds by doing the obvious thing well. Still recommended to marketers and founders as a lesson in clear, simple thinking.
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Adam Smith's first book, written 17 years before The Wealth of Nations. It explains how sympathy, self-interest and the wish to be approved of shape our morals, and why markets rest on trust and conscience.
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Mill's classic case for free speech and personal freedom. It sets out the harm principle: people should be free to live as they choose unless they harm others.
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A 19th-century bestseller asking why poverty persists as economies grow. George blames rising land rents and argues for a single tax on land value, an idea still debated today.
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Malthus's famous argument that population tends to grow faster than the food supply. It shaped economics, Darwin's thinking and debates on growth and scarcity for two centuries.
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Ricardo's founding text of classical economics. It introduces comparative advantage, the reason countries gain from trade, along with his theories of rent, wages, profits and taxes.
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Thoreau's account of two years living simply in a cabin by Walden Pond. A classic on minimalism, self-reliance and spending your life on what matters, with a sharp chapter on the real cost of things.
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Written in prison while Boethius awaited execution, this dialogue with Lady Philosophy asks how to stay steady when fortune turns. A favourite of Stoic readers on loss, luck and what real happiness is.
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The sayings of Confucius collected by his students. Short teachings on character, learning, duty to family and good leadership that still shape East Asian thinking.
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A short primer on how currency exchange works: bills of exchange, what makes exchange rates rise and fall, how the market is organised and how banks make money in it. Useful background for forex traders.
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A new IsDB Institute book on the core principles of Islamic finance: the ban on riba, gharar, the role of zakah and why finance must stay tied to real economic activity, applied to today's debt and inflation problems.
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The 81 short poems at the heart of Taoism. Laozi's advice on humility, patience, letting go of force and leading by example is one of the most translated texts in the world.
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Aristotle's guide to living well. He asks what happiness really is and how habits, self-control, friendship and justice build good character, the founding book of virtue ethics.
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Weber's famous study of why modern capitalism grew where it did. He links hard work, thrift and reinvesting profit to religious ideas about duty and calling.
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Mill's great textbook on production, distribution, wages, money, credit, trade and taxes, in J. Laurence Laughlin's abridged student edition with notes and a short history of economics.
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Hume's short economic essays, including Of Money, Of Interest, Of the Balance of Trade, Of Taxes and Of Public Credit. Early, clear arguments on money supply, prices and trade that Adam Smith built on.
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The book that invented the personal essay. Montaigne writes honestly about fear, friendship, failure, ageing, habit and death, and keeps asking the question "what do I know?"
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Hundreds of letters from an 18th-century statesman teaching his son how to use time well, read people, speak and write clearly, and get on in the world. Still quoted for its advice on manners and self-discipline.
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Bastiat's witty takedown of protectionism and economic myths, including the famous candlemakers' petition against the sun. Short, sharp essays on trade, tariffs and why "saving jobs" can make everyone poorer.
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Sunday-evening talks Washington gave to the students at Tuskegee about hard work, honesty, thrift, keeping your word, getting things done and owning your mistakes. Short, practical chapters on how everyday habits build a person.
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Emerson's later essays on how to live well: Fate, Power, Wealth, Culture, Behavior, Worship and more. The essay "Wealth" is a classic on earning, saving and spending with sense, and the book is full of lines still quoted on self-reliance and character.
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Keynes's book on the logic of probability: how much a piece of evidence should change what we believe, why many probabilities cannot be put into numbers, and the limits of induction and statistics. Its ideas on uncertainty run through his later economics and modern risk thinking.
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Cicero's two short classics on living well. On Old Age argues that later life can be active, useful and content if you keep learning and working; On Friendship explains what real friendship is, how to choose friends and how to keep them without flattery.
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Letters to students, writers and professionals on doing serious mental work well: protecting your health and energy, using time, the effect of money worries, custom and habit, society versus solitude, and how to keep learning alongside a job.
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Short, direct essays by the author of The Majesty of Calmness on mastering yourself: controlling temper, worry and speech, keeping promises, handling failure, and why small daily acts of self-discipline add up to character.
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The sequel to Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son. The Chicago pork-packer John Graham, now retired, keeps writing blunt, funny letters to his son, who runs the business: on hiring, managing people, spending, partners, marriage and not getting a big head.
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Letters from a veteran travelling salesman to his son starting out on the road. Practical advice on prospecting, getting past the gatekeeper, handling objections, closing, keeping customers, managing your territory and your money.
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The Yale professor who taught America's first sociology course, on what people in a free society owe one another. His defence of 'the Forgotten Man' who quietly works, saves and pays for other people's schemes is still quoted in debates on taxes, welfare and self-reliance.
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How machines and factories changed business: the rise of big firms, trusts and monopolies, the role of finance and the investor, booms and depressions, and what machine production meant for workers, towns and wages. Hobson's ideas later influenced Keynes.
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Fifty-eight short, sharp essays by the father of the scientific method on how to live and get on in the world: Of Studies, Of Riches, Of Ambition, Of Friendship, Of Negotiating, Of Expense and more. Each one packs practical wisdom on money, power and character into a few pages.
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An IsDB Institute report on using Islamic finance to fund social enterprises in OIC countries. It covers a policy framework built on Islamic values, building the support ecosystem, Shariah-compliant funding at each stage of growth (including waqf and zakat) and the legal and tax rules social businesses need.
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The first IsDB Institute and London Stock Exchange Group report on five traps that stall growth: the middle-income, natural-resources, small-business, debt and technology traps. It uses data from the World Bank, IMF and others to show how sukuk, waqf, mudarabah and zakat can help countries escape them.
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Schopenhauer's most practical book: what really makes a life happy. He splits it into what you are (health, character, mind), what you have (wealth) and what you represent (reputation), and argues that the first matters most. Sharp, quotable and surprisingly modern on money, status and peace of mind.
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Seven essays by a Swiss judge and statesman on living well, including the much-quoted The Art of Work and The Art of Having Time. Practical advice on getting started on work you put off, building good habits, using fragments of time and finding contentment in steady, useful work.
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Bastiat's best-known short works in one volume, including That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Not Seen (the broken-window fallacy), Capital and Interest, Government, What Is Money? and The Law. Witty, clear arguments about hidden costs, money and the limits of the state.
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The standard graduate text on Bayesian statistics, free as a PDF from the authors. It covers priors and posteriors, hierarchical models, model checking, MCMC and Stan, regression, mixture and nonparametric models. Essential if you build forecasting or risk models and want to handle uncertainty properly.
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Russell's plain-spoken guide to being happier, written for ordinary people rather than philosophers. The first half diagnoses what makes us miserable: competition, boredom, fatigue, envy, guilt and fear of what others think. The second half covers what helps: zest, affection, work, wide interests and knowing when to strive and when to accept.
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The companion to The Wisdom of Life: Schopenhauer's practical rules for living well. Short, sharp sections on what to expect from life, how to treat yourself and other people, handling fortune and bad luck, and how life feels at each age. Full of quotable advice on solitude, prudence, envy and peace of mind.
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A free, full corporate finance textbook from Rotterdam School of Management and Schroders. It covers discount rates, NPV and capital budgeting, valuing bonds, listed and private equity, risk and return, cost of capital, capital structure, payouts and M&A, and shows how to bring social and environmental factors into valuation.
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A popular, readable guide to working out what causes what in messy real-world data. It covers probability and regression, causal graphs, potential outcomes, matching, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, panel data, difference-in-differences and synthetic control, with R and Stata code throughout.
Download freeAn open-access collection of ten research papers on FinTech innovations, including in banking and lending.
Download freeAn open-access study of household debt and financial vulnerability in Central and Eastern Europe after decades of fast credit growth.
Download freeAn open-access book on how systemic risk and uncertainty build up inside financial systems, written in the light of the Global Financial Crisis.
Download freeAn open-access monograph on how digital technology and sustainability are reshaping finance and business in Europe.
Download freeAn open-access book on how bank performance is measured, written after the post-2008 reforms.
Download freeAn open-access handbook on financial infrastructures (payments, settlement and data systems) and how they shape global finance.
Download freeAn open-access history of microfinance in Cambodia from the 1990s to today, with its remaining challenges for financial inclusion.
Download freeProceedings of the first C.F.A. seminar, which debated whether the efficient market and random walk hypotheses make financial analysis pointless.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation tribute that collects Benjamin Graham's late writings and reflections on his legacy as the father of security analysis.
Download freeA study that compares neural-network and other AI techniques for predicting corporate bankruptcy.
Download freeProceedings of a Boston University conference on life-cycle saving and investing, with a focus on financial education and consumer protection.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation study of fund management through the lens of 'emotional finance': the feelings and stories behind investment decisions.
Download freeA guide for investment professionals on how modern electronic markets work, and why and how to trade efficiently.
Download freeA monograph on factor investing and asset allocation viewed through the business cycle.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation handbook with background and practical guidance on sustainable investing.
Download freePresents the Popularity Asset Pricing Model, which argues that market premiums come from assets being unpopular. It links classical and behavioural finance.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation book on measuring clients' risk tolerance and profiling investors in private wealth management.
Download freeConnects financial theory with human behaviour to build a practical framework for retirement planning.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation book on how geopolitics and economics interact, and how to measure and manage the resulting investment risks.
Download freeAnalyses why many global bond markets traded at negative yields, and what that meant for economies and investors.
Download freeInvestment educator Paul Merriman offers several of his own investing books as free downloads from his site, covering index investing, asset allocation and retirement.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed college textbook on starting and growing a venture, from opportunity recognition to business models and funding.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed textbook on management: planning, organising, leading and controlling organisations.
Download freeThe 2nd edition (2026) of OpenStax's free, peer-reviewed introduction to business, covering economics, marketing, management, finance and entrepreneurship.
Download freeRobyn Klingler-Vidra and Ramon Pacheco Pardo examine how East Asian governments have backed high-growth tech startups, and what that means for capitalism in the region.
Download freeAn open-access collection of research on how sustainable high-growth firms are founded and grow.
Download freeAn open-access book on how indigenous knowledge systems can support youth entrepreneurship.
Download freeAn open-access collection on entrepreneurship education and how it can empower students.
Download freeChinese scholars rethink 'urban entrepreneurialism' and explain why the state remains central to how cities are run in market-reform China.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation study of the common factors that drive liquidity and trading activity across stocks.
Download freeA monograph on how informed trading affects volatility and liquidity in options markets.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation monograph on actively managing currency exposure in a world of floating exchange rates.
Download freeA CFA Institute Research Foundation book on hedging, especially hedging currency risk in international portfolios.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed marketing textbook covering strategy, consumer behaviour, branding, pricing and digital marketing.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed textbook on how people behave in organisations: motivation, teams, leadership and culture.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed textbook on ethical decision-making in business.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed introduction to the legal environment of business, including contracts, torts and business organisations.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed introduction to financial accounting and financial statements.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed introduction to managerial accounting: costing, budgeting and decision-making.
Download freeOpenStax's free, peer-reviewed introduction to patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets for innovators and entrepreneurs.
Download freeMartin Leibowitz shows how asset allocation changes once a pension fund's future liabilities are counted as part of the risk. The monograph sets out a framework that looks beyond swings in market value alone.
Download freeEdward Altman proposes a mortality-rate method for measuring default risk on corporate bonds. He uses it to compare how bonds of different credit ratings actually performed.
Download freeA study of how venture capitalists add value when companies go public. It compares the pricing and later performance of venture-backed and non-venture-backed IPOs.
Download freeAn analysis of the poison pill, one of the most debated anti-takeover defences. It looks at what using the pill costs shareholders as well as how it deters bids.
Download freeWerner De Bondt tests whether share prices are realistically linked to analysts' forecasts of earnings growth. He presents new evidence on how forecasts relate to later share price reversals.
Download freeHersh Shefrin and Meir Statman examine the debates over fairness and efficiency that shaped financial market regulation. They argue that the rules only make sense once these competing ideas are understood.
Download freeLeibowitz and Kogelman develop the franchise value approach to explaining a company's price-to-earnings ratio. The book separates the value of existing business from the value of future growth opportunities.
Download freeA practical process for forecasting long-term returns on stocks, bonds and other asset classes. The forecasts are built from economic fundamentals rather than past returns.
Download freeA study of risk, return and performance in emerging stock markets over two decades. It covers how these markets behaved and what that means for international investors.
Download freeErb, Harvey and Viskanta study how measures of country risk relate to expected returns and volatility. The monograph shows how investors can use country risk ratings in global portfolio decisions.
Download freeStephen Gorman makes the case for keeping international equities in a portfolio. He responds to common arguments about rising correlations, costs, currency swings and weak non-US returns.
Download freeRichard Michaud looks at stock factors such as price-to-book and how they are used for global stock selection. He discusses when such market anomalies can be exploited in practice.
Download freeSimple investment-value models for forecasting long-range returns on stocks and bonds, based on patterns in 1926 to 1996 market data. The author explains how the models are built and how they performed.
Download freeA review of research on how reported earnings and the way they are disclosed affect share prices. It is aimed at analysts who use accounting numbers to value equities.
Download freeKothari and Shanken look at how apparent market anomalies could be built into efficient, practical portfolios. They bridge academic findings and real portfolio construction.
Download freeAn introduction to real options, meaning the value of a company's flexibility to expand, delay or abandon projects. It shows how these options can be included in company valuation.
Download freeElroy Dimson and Carolina Minio-Paluello review why closed-end funds often trade below the value of their assets. They examine the main explanations and what the discount means for investors.
Download freeLaurence Siegel explains what benchmarks are, how they are built and how they shape investment management. He covers their benefits for investors and their limits for skilled managers.
Download freeA Darden School study of the practical issues in investing in emerging markets. It covers what investors should weigh before putting money into these fast-growing markets.
Download freeDechow and Schrand explain what makes reported earnings high or low quality. They show analysts how to judge whether earnings reflect a company's real performance.
Download freeStephen Horan explains how tax-advantaged savings accounts work and how to use them to build wealth efficiently. He shows that some common rules of thumb about these accounts can mislead.
Download freeAndrew Lo examines the hedge fund industry, including its returns, risks and the ways it differs from traditional investing. He also looks at the systemic risks hedge funds can create.
Download freeA literature review of research on managing money for private individuals. It covers how this differs from institutional investing, with topics such as taxes, life stages and behaviour.
Download freeA plain-English review of recent developments in quantitative equity modelling, with no formulas. It explains the trade-offs between model complexity, risk and performance.
Download freeLudovic Phalippou surveys academic research on investing in private equity funds. He sets out what is known about their returns, fees and risks, and what remains unclear.
Download freeThis book argues that personal asset allocation should account for human capital, meaning future earnings, alongside financial assets. It also shows how life insurance and annuities fit into a lifetime plan.
Download freeA short introduction to behavioural finance theories and the evidence behind them. It covers how psychological biases affect investor decisions and market prices.
Download freeA reader-friendly introduction to Islamic finance covering its core concepts, markets, products and current issues. It also shows how practice varies across countries.
Download freeDavid DeRosa draws on economic history and central bankers' writings to examine monetary policy in emerging-market countries. He develops a consistent view of how such policy should work.
Download freeBased on a survey of Vanguard retirement-account investors, this study links emotional intelligence to investment behaviour. Investors who handle emotions well tend to make steadier decisions.
Download freeSixteen seasoned investment professionals write about the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis. They place it in the context of earlier financial upheavals and draw lessons for investors.
Download freeKeith Black shows that hedge funds are far from a uniform group. He surveys the strategies, risks and evidence investors should understand before allocating to them.
Download freeAn objective guide to separating alpha, meaning manager skill, from beta, meaning market exposure, when building portfolios. It covers the principles, terminology and practical implementation issues.
Download freeSébastien Lleo reviews how ideas of risk and risk management have developed in finance since Markowitz. He covers the main measures and methods used today.
Download freeShows how financial advisers can use behavioural finance to understand clients' decisions. It sets out ways to build a better adviser–client relationship.
Download freeThomas Coleman's guide to managing risk in financial organisations. It stresses that quantitative tools support, but do not replace, judgement and experience.
Download freeJensen and Mercer review the evidence on commodities as an investment. They cover their claimed diversification and hedging benefits and how investors get exposure to them.
Download freeLawrence Speidell introduces frontier markets, the smaller economies beyond the usual emerging-market list. He discusses the opportunities and pitfalls of investing in their stock markets.
Download freeTen years after a 2001 forum, leading academics and practitioners revisit the equity risk premium, the extra return expected from stocks. Each contributor sets out their own estimate and reasoning.
Download freeA literature review on how inflation affects equity valuation. Theory says stocks should be neutral to inflation, yet short-run evidence often shows otherwise.
Download freeScott Stewart's practical guide to choosing and monitoring investment managers. It covers the research, evaluation and decision process behind a sound selection.
Download freeAn introduction to Islamic economics and finance that starts from their ethical foundations. It explains the core concepts, such as risk sharing and asset-backed financing, and how they work in practice.
Download freeJoachim Klement explains why standard risk-profiling questionnaires do a poor job of predicting how much risk investors take. He reviews better approaches.
Download freeA review of 50 years of academic research on retirement planning and the risk of outliving savings. It covers the main viewpoints and the tools available to retirees.
Download freeIngo Walter analyses how the global asset management industry is organised. He looks at how products and firms compete within and across markets.
Download freeMichael Pompian looks at risk profiling through behavioural finance. He covers the gap between an investor's willingness to take risk and their ability to bear it.
Download freeLaurence Siegel reviews research on the equity risk premium, covering historical returns, discount models and macro approaches. He places current forecasts in context.
Download freeJohn Grable explains how financial risk-tolerance tests should be judged. He covers what makes a questionnaire valid and reliable for use with clients.
Download freeA literature review of modern research on technical analysis. It links the subject to behavioural economics and to how traders and markets actually behave.
Download freeA review of quantitative equity investing, covering the disciplined, model-based methods used to build portfolios. It looks at where the field stands today.
Download freeA Research Foundation brief produced with CFA Society New York, edited by high-yield veteran Martin Fridson. Contributors explain how analysts assess junk bonds, from fair-value models to credit analysis.
Download freeA 138-page book on how investment management evolved and where it is heading. Kahn traces the move from active stock picking towards indexing, smart beta and systematic products.
Download freeMauro Miranda and fellow contributors examine the challenges facing local capital markets in Latin America. They propose ways to make these markets deeper and more efficient.
Download freeLocal authors describe developments in Africa's main capital markets. They cover problems such as illiquidity and limited access, as well as future trends for investors.
Download freeA guide to good investment governance for trustees and other fiduciaries, whatever the size of the fund. It covers how to set objectives, make decisions and oversee managers.
Download freeCarl Bacon traces performance attribution, the analysis of what drove a portfolio's results, from the 1970s to today's more complex models.
Download freeBased on a conference held ten years after the global financial crisis, this brief explores its causes, the policy response and the lessons learned.
Download freeAn interdisciplinary look at why productivity growth slowed in the US and other advanced economies after 2005. It offers policy ideas and insights for investors.
Download freeRichard Fullmer explains tontines and other mortality-pooled investments. He shows how they could help people turn savings into income that lasts for life.
Download freeA critical review of academic research on ESG and responsible investing by institutional investors around the world. It pays particular attention to climate risk in portfolios.
Download freeMaureen O'Hara and Ayan Bhattacharya examine whether the growth of exchange-traded funds threatens market stability. They suggest regulatory steps to reduce the risks.
Download freeA critical survey of studies on whether US households are prepared for retirement. It also compares the outlook in seven other industrialised countries.
Download freeAllison Schrager draws risk-management lessons from unconventional risk-takers, including a film producer, a poker champion and a big-wave surfer.
Download freeA literature review of how artificial intelligence is being used in portfolio management, trading and risk management. It also covers the risks these tools bring.
Download freeLeading researchers explain Nobel laureate Robert C. Merton's influence on financial theory and practice. The book is based on a 2019 MIT symposium held in his honour.
Download freeA guide to the VIX 'fear gauge' and other volatility indexes around the world. It covers the futures and options built on them and how they are used for hedging and trading.
Download freeDavid DeRosa evaluates academic research on stock market bubbles and whether they really exist. He considers what bubbles mean for market efficiency and for investors.
Download freeKlement and Falk respond to growing distrust of capitalism. They argue for reforms that would make it more inclusive and accountable to all stakeholders.
Download freeA Research Foundation brief explaining what Bitcoin, blockchains and other cryptoassets are. It also covers how investment professionals might think about adding them to a portfolio.
Download freeBailey and Winkelmann examine flaws in the design of US defined-contribution retirement plans. They offer design and policy recommendations for plan sponsors.
Download freeAn introduction to the fiscal theory of the price level, which links inflation to government debt and deficits. It shows how investors can value money using discounted cash flows.
Download freeA brief on how to evaluate the performance of ESG investment strategies. It proposes a framework for measuring and attributing their results.
Download freeA literature review of why companies buy back their own shares and with what results. It weighs academic research and practitioner views on the costs and benefits.
Download freeProceedings of the once-a-decade Equity Risk Premium Forum, held in 2021, with contributor updates from 2023. The consensus pointed to lower expected stock returns ahead.
Download freePractitioners introduce alternative credit as an asset class, and explain its key features. They use leading transactions to show its features and risks.
Download freeReinganum and Blay argue that, contrary to conventional wisdom, active management will grow in importance. They see investing moving towards products customised to each investor.
Download freeA literature review by a Stockholm School of Economics professor on how private equity works and whether it really outperforms. It covers risk, leverage and the importance of choosing the right fund manager.
Download freeUsing historical data, this study shows that optimal portfolio mixes change materially with the investment horizon, because returns are not independent over time. The effect matters most for risk-averse retirees.
Download freeA practical guide to validating the models behind investment strategies, from simple statistics to machine learning. It aims to make investment products more robust.
Download freeIdzorek and Kaplan propose a three-stage financial planning model that brings life-cycle finance into everyday advice. It combines life-cycle modelling with portfolio optimisation.
Download freeExplains how companies use derivatives to manage risk and how the SFAS No. 133 accounting rules changed their reporting. It shows analysts how to read the resulting financial statements.
Download freeRoberto Rigobon reviews theory and evidence on financial contagion, where a crisis in one emerging market spreads to others. He covers how analysts can measure it.
Download freeWilliam Ziemba presents stochastic programming for managing assets against future liabilities. He applies it to pension funds, insurers and individuals planning their wealth.
Download freeA scientific look at whether security analysts' research is truly independent. The authors examine conflicts of interest that investors often suspect from anecdotal evidence.
Download freeA survey of quantitative research on pricing credit risk. It explains the two main families of models, structural and reduced-form.
Download freeA handbook on adapting investment theory for taxable private investors, written with a minimum of mathematics. It covers taxes, customisation and wealth planning for each individual.
Download freeJulie Hudson explains socially responsible investment as an approach driven by investors' values, not just exclusion screens. She discusses the profession's wider responsibilities.
Download freeThis study looks at the problems quantitative equity managers faced from mid-2007, when many of them underperformed at once. It covers how the field grew and the challenges it now faces.
Download freeConference papers from leading thinkers, including Paul Samuelson and Robert Merton, on life-cycle finance. They cover how households should save, invest and plan for retirement.
Download freeFabozzi, Focardi and Jonas examine how the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis hit the investment industry. They look at the changes it is likely to bring.
Download freeA literature review of private wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and families. It covers portfolio design, taxes and planning issues that differ from institutional investing.
Download freeA review of research on investing in emerging markets. It covers their returns, risks and integration with developed markets.
Download freeMarianne Jennings explains the fiduciary duties owed by brokers, investment advisers, asset managers and other professionals. She shows how those duties differ by role.
Download freeA literature review on the principal–agent problem in finance, where those managing money may have different incentives from those who own it. It covers how incentives and contracts try to align them.
Download freeJames Garland argues that endowments and trusts should base spending on the cash flows their investments produce, not on market values. He says this gives a more stable stream of spending.
Download freeThe 2026 second edition of OpenStax's free introductory finance textbook. It uses real-world cases to show the role of finance in business decisions, with financial calculator and Excel exercises.
Download freeOpenStax's free one-semester statistics textbook for business and economics students. It walks through formulas step by step and focuses on applying them to real data.
Download freeOpenStax's free introductory economics textbook covering both micro and macro topics. The third edition updates the data and uses plain language with fictional and real-world examples.
Download freeOpenStax's free one-semester introductory macroeconomics textbook. It uses conversational language and current data, with both fictional and real-world examples.
Download freeOpenStax's free one-semester introductory microeconomics textbook. The third edition balances theory and application and was updated to reflect recent developments.
Download freeOpenStax's free data science textbook for students in business, finance and other fields. Its examples use real sources such as the Federal Reserve Economic Database and Nasdaq data.
Download freeOpenStax's free textbook on computer literacy and office software, covering Microsoft Office and Google apps. It teaches spreadsheets, documents and presentations alongside workplace soft skills.
Download freeAn open-access Cambridge Element arguing that most factor-investing research makes associational rather than causal claims. The author proposes methods for turning factor investing into a properly scientific discipline.
Download freeAn open-access edited volume on financial literacy, fintech and changes in global financial markets. One chapter, by Steven Tairu Bello, gives beginners a grounding in stock market investing.
Download freeA full open personal finance textbook covering financial planning, budgeting, taxes, insurance, retirement and investing. It includes planning problems with worked solutions and personal application exercises.
Download freeA free AAII e-book for individual investors on working out your own investor profile and approaches to choosing stocks. It also covers what to consider when investing for income.
Download freeA free AAII e-book on doing your own fundamental analysis. It covers analysing a company's finances, valuing a stock, financial ratios and screening for undervalued shares.
Download freeA free AAII e-book on creating and monitoring an asset allocation. It covers balancing risk and return, life-cycle changes, reducing tax and keeping a portfolio in balance in retirement.
Download freeCharles Rotblut argues that investors make their own luck by weighing a stock's chance of falling against its chance of rising, and by avoiding overvalued, risky shares. The book builds on four ideas drawn from Markowitz, Fisher and Graham: diversification, a strong business model, good financials and attractive valuation.
Download freeWarren Buffett's annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, free on the company's own site. Decades of plain-spoken lessons on valuing businesses, capital allocation and investor temperament.
Download freeThe SEC's free beginner guide to making a financial plan, paying off high-interest debt, and then saving and investing. It also explains risk, diversification and how to check out an adviser.
Download freeThe Federal Reserve's own guide to how it sets interest rates, supervises banks, keeps the financial system stable and runs the payment system. Useful background for any investor watching Fed decisions.
Download freeW. D. Gann's first book, on reading the ticker tape and charts of stocks and commodities, with his rules for volume, trend and when to enter and exit trades.
Download freeSeth Godin's marketing classic on making ideas spread from customer to customer instead of buying attention with ads. Godin gives the PDF away and asks readers to pass it on.
Download freeThe Shari'ah standards used by Islamic banks worldwide, covering murabahah, ijarah, sukuk, musharakah, tawarruq, zakah, waqf and more. AAOIFI now publishes all its standards free online.
Download freeBank Negara Malaysia's book of rulings by its Shariah Advisory Council from 1997 to 2009, with the reasoning behind each. A key reference for Islamic banking and takaful products in Malaysia.
Download freeThe Securities Commission Malaysia's Shariah rulings for the Islamic capital market, with the reasoning behind each: warrants, securitisation, short selling, crude palm oil futures, and the screening of listed shares.
Download freeA joint World Bank and IsDB report on how Islamic finance can support inclusion and growth, covering Islamic banking, sukuk, takaful, waqf and zakat, and the policies needed to grow them.
Download freeThe Dallas Fed's free 40-page guide to personal finance. It walks through setting goals, budgeting, saving, managing debt and credit, and starting to invest, with worksheets you can fill in.
Download freeA 1914 guide for ordinary investors by the editor of Investment Magazine. It covers types of bonds and stocks, how to judge their value, how to diversify, and how to read business barometers.
Download freeA World Bank volume on how Islamic finance can support growth and shared prosperity, covering risk sharing, sukuk, Islamic microfinance, takaful, regulation and public finance.
Download freeA World Bank guide to judging the health of Islamic banks: credit, liquidity, market and Shariah-compliance risk, capital adequacy and governance, written for non-specialist executives and analysts.
Download freeA World Bank book on takaful, the Islamic alternative to conventional insurance, and on mutual insurers. It explains how the models work, how to regulate them and how they can reach low-income families.
Download free300 short maxims from a 17th-century Spanish Jesuit on reading people, guarding your reputation, choosing friends and knowing when to speak. A favourite of strategists and self-help readers.
Download freeIrving Fisher's classic on why interest exists: people's impatience to spend now versus the chance to invest for more later. It is the root of how economists value bonds, projects and time.
Download freeVeblen's sharp look at how businessmen make money from buying, selling and credit rather than from making things, and how that drives booms, busts and big mergers.
Download freeA trader's inside account of 1860s Wall Street: bull and bear campaigns, corners, gold-room panics and the men who won and lost fortunes. Lively history that still reads like a trading memoir.
Download freeA Cornell economist explains how grain futures work at the Chicago Board of Trade: hedging, speculation, short selling, corners and price making, and why futures markets matter to farmers.
Download freeA short, famous booklet for young investors: save 15% and split it across three index funds. Bernstein explains the five traps that stop people sticking to that simple plan.
Download freeSeth Godin's guide to starting a business with little or no money: picking a business you can afford, selling before you scale, keeping costs low and growing from your own cash.
Download freeA World Bank study in its Malaysia Development Experience series on how Islamic banking, sukuk and takaful have helped grow Malaysia's halal industry, and what other countries can learn.
Download freeA joint IFSB and World Bank report on takaful (Islamic insurance): how its models work, why it has grown slowly, and what regulators and operators can do to reach more families and small firms.
Download freeImam al-Ghazali's short classic on knowing yourself, knowing God, and turning away from greed and worldly distraction towards real, lasting happiness. A key work of Islamic ethics and spiritual self-improvement.
Download freeNitobe explains the samurai code of rectitude, courage, benevolence, honour, loyalty and self-control. A short classic on character that business readers in Japan and abroad still return to.
Download freeThe textbook that gave economics supply and demand curves, elasticity, consumer surplus and the short run versus the long run. It was the standard economics book for a generation and is still the root of modern microeconomics.
Download freeA Harvard economist's warning, two years before the 1929 crash, about non-voting shares, holding companies and poor company accounts. An early classic on shareholder rights and corporate governance.
Download freeThe book that separated measurable risk from true uncertainty that cannot be priced, and argued that profit is the reward for bearing uncertainty. Essential background for anyone who trades, invests or runs a business.
Download freeThe most popular beginner's book on machine learning and statistical modelling: regression, classification, resampling, trees, support vector machines and deep learning, with labs in R or Python.
Download freeAn Ohio farmer's 1875 book (1884 edition) that charted repeating cycles of panics, booms and lows in pig iron, hogs, corn and provisions. The source of the much-shared "Benner cycle" chart traders still talk about.
Download freeA former editor of The Economist explains how the London Stock Exchange works: brokers and jobbers, settlement, options, how prices move, and the difference between investing and speculating.
Download freeThe standard guide to how Bitcoin really works: keys, addresses, wallets, transactions, mining and the network. The full text of all three editions is free to read on the authors' GitHub.
Download freeRay Dalio's template for how debt cycles build up, burst and get resolved, with case studies of 1930s America, Weimar Germany and 2008. Required reading for anyone trying to understand bubbles, deleveraging and money printing.
Download freeA 1920s guide to building a sound portfolio: judging bonds and stocks, safety of principal, income, diversification and avoiding the traps that catch new investors.
Download freeAndrew Carnegie's talks to young men on how to succeed in business: thrift, concentration, partnership, money and wages, and why owners should "put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket".
Download freeA World Bank report on how Shariah-compliant digital payments, crowdfunding, P2P lending, robo-advice and blockchain can bring banking to the unbanked in Muslim countries, with country examples and policy advice.
Download freeA joint World Bank, INCEIF and ISRA study on modernising waqf (Islamic endowments) to fund schools, hospitals and housing, covering cash waqf, waqf-linked sukuk and governance, with case studies from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and beyond.
Download freeA World Bank and IsDB guide to funding roads, power and water projects with Islamic finance: istisna, ijarah and sukuk structures for public-private partnerships, with nine case studies from six countries including Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Download freeClason's 1926 money parables, set in ancient Babylon. Arkad, the city's richest man, teaches that you keep at least a tenth of all you earn, make those savings work, guard them from get-rich-quick schemes and own your home. Short, plain stories on saving, debt and steady wealth that are still widely read.
Download freeThe startup operating manual Silicon Valley founders pass around. Mochary, a coach to many fast-growing tech CEOs, covers getting things done, inbox zero, decision-making, clear agreements, feedback, hiring, fundraising and sales, with checklists you can use the same day.
Download freeA partner and long-time credit manager of Marshall Field & Co. explains how a young person becomes a successful merchant: choosing a trade, learning the business from the bottom, credit and collections, handling staff and customers, and building a good name.
Download freeA Wharton professor's full guide to how the stock market works: what exchanges do, listing, brokers, orders, margin accounts, short selling, the clearing house, market manipulation, and the difference between investment and speculation. A standard textbook of its era.
Download freeWhy most speculators lose money and what the few winners do differently. Gibson, a Wall Street market writer, covers overtrading, thin margins, tips, chasing prices and trading without a plan, then sets out sound principles for speculating in the market.
Download freeThe book that started quant hedging. Thorp, the blackjack card-counter, and Kassouf show how to price stock warrants and convertibles and hedge them against the common stock, a market-neutral method they used to earn about 25% a year. It foreshadowed Black-Scholes options pricing.
Download freeThe standard guide to how Ethereum works, updated for proof of stake: keys and wallets, transactions, smart contracts in Solidity and Vyper, tokens, DeFi, security and the Ethereum roadmap. A companion to Mastering Bitcoin.
Download freeThe advanced companion to An Introduction to Statistical Learning. Regression, classification, regularisation, trees, boosting, random forests, support vector machines, neural networks and unsupervised learning, explained by the Stanford statisticians who invented several of these methods.
Download freeThe most widely used free textbook on forecasting. Time-series graphics, decomposition, exponential smoothing, ARIMA, regression, dynamic models and judging forecast accuracy, with worked R examples on sales, prices and economic data.
Download freeA clear Victorian classic on what money is and how it works: barter, the functions of money, gold and silver, coinage, paper money, banks, cheques and the clearing house. Still one of the best plain explanations of money for beginners.
Download freeSay's famous textbook on how wealth is produced, shared out and used. It gave us the entrepreneur as a key figure in the economy and "Say's law" that supply creates its own demand, and was the standard economics text in Europe and America for decades.
Download freeHow Malaysia built one of the world's leading Islamic finance sectors and used it to bring more people into the financial system: Bank Negara's role, Islamic banking and takaful, microfinance, sukuk, digital finance, and lessons other countries can copy.
Download freeHow Shariah-compliant trade finance works (murabahah, wakalah, kafalah and other contracts for letters of credit and guarantees), how big the market is, and how Malaysian banks and exporters can grow it.
Download freeThe story of green sukuk, which started in Malaysia in 2017: how they are structured, the rules and incentives behind them, case studies of the first issues in Malaysia and Indonesia, and how Islamic finance can fund climate and environmental projects.
Download freeA thorough early guide to bonds by a New York bond dealer. The difference between gambling, speculation and investment, what makes an ideal investment, stocks versus bonds, the kinds of bonds and mortgages, how to judge the security behind a bond and how yields work.
Download freeSecurity analysis before Benjamin Graham. How to read a company report and balance sheet, bond yields, market influences on prices, taxes, and how to judge railroad, utility, industrial, real-estate and government securities one sector at a time.
Download freeThe Alexander Hamilton Institute course on the money market and securities. How the stock exchange works, bulls and bears, short selling, corners, puts and calls, the 'science of speculation', and what really determines the value of stocks and bonds.
Download freeA plain guide to how markets worked, from the publisher of Charles Dow's ABC of Stock Speculation. Trading in stocks and bonds, a broker's day, puts, calls and spreads, trading in grain, cotton and coffee, the curb and mining markets, clearing houses and foreign exchange.
Download freeThe Princeton textbook used in over 120 university courses. How Bitcoin and blockchains really work: cryptography basics, decentralisation, mining, wallet security, anonymity, regulation, altcoins and smart contracts, in clear language without hype.
Download freeAn introduction to probability and statistics for people who know some Python. Distributions, relationships between variables, estimation, hypothesis testing, regression and time series, taught through real data sets, with every chapter as a runnable notebook.
Download freeA classic, readable probability textbook from Dartmouth. Discrete and continuous probability, combinatorics, conditional probability, expected value and variance, the law of large numbers, the central limit theorem, generating functions, Markov chains and random walks.
Download freeThe standard guide to pandas, written by its creator. Loading, cleaning, reshaping, joining and grouping data, working with time series and NumPy, and plotting, with worked examples. The base skill set for analysing prices, trades and financial data in Python.
Download freeThe latest joint World Bank and IsDB report (November 2025), written by the World Bank's Malaysia hub. How green sukuk, takaful, waqf and Islamic fintech fund climate action across OIC countries, with many examples from Malaysia and Indonesia and practical steps to green the halal industry.
Download freeThe last of Samuel Smiles's four self-help classics (after Self-Help, Character and Thrift). Through true stories of soldiers, doctors, workers and reformers, it argues that doing your duty, steadily and without applause, is what builds a strong character and a good life.
Download freeA bestselling 19th-century guide to success by a Chicago professor. Chapters on choosing a career, self-reliance, concentration, decision, the value of time, manners, health, saving money and why steady work beats luck, each backed by examples from famous lives.
Download freeA full, up-to-date introduction to business from Virginia Tech: economics, ethics, global business, forms of ownership, entrepreneurship and small business, management, marketing, accounting, finance and personal finance. A free alternative to a paid business-101 textbook.
Download freeA plain-English guide by the author of The Cycles of Speculation for the everyday saver. How to judge safety, income and marketability, why to diversify, when bonds beat stocks, how to read a company's numbers and how to avoid the traps that cost small investors money.
Download freeThe famous City editor of The Times explains the stock market for ordinary investors: what shares, bonds and debentures really are, how the Stock Exchange works, what makes prices move, how to weigh risk against return, and the difference between investing and gambling.
Download freeLearn how Bitcoin really works by building it yourself in Python, from finite fields and elliptic curves to signing transactions, Script, blocks and the network. Useful for any crypto investor who wants to understand what they own, not just its price.
Download freeA hands-on introduction to Bayesian statistics with Python: updating beliefs with data, estimating proportions and counts, comparing hypotheses, prediction and decision making. A practical way to think about probability, risk and uncertainty in markets.
Download freeFree lectures by a Nobel laureate and a leading computational economist on modelling with Python: linear algebra, Markov chains, Kalman filters, dynamic programming, asset pricing, inequality and more. Each lecture is runnable code you can adapt for your own models.
Download freeIrving Fisher's classic on what sets the price level. It lays out the equation of exchange (MV = PT), explains how money supply, credit and the speed of spending drive inflation, interest rates and booms and busts, and proposes ways to keep money's value stable.
Download freeA clear, classic explanation of money and banking from the City of London: what money is, how banks create credit, how bills of exchange and the Bank of England's rate work, and why the money market sets the cost of borrowing for everyone.
Download freeThe founding work of marginal productivity theory by the American economist the John Bates Clark Medal is named after. It explains how wages, interest and profits are set by what each extra worker or unit of capital adds, and why competition tends to pay each factor what it produces.
Download freeCicero's last and most practical work, a letter to his son on how to live and act honourably: the four virtues, what is right versus what is useful, honesty in business and politics, and why real self-interest never conflicts with doing the right thing. Read for centuries as the guide to ethical leadership.
Download freeA short practical guide to speculating in wheat futures from The Magazine of Wall Street: how wheat is graded, how government crop reports and world supply move prices, how the Chicago Board of Trade works, order types, swings, scale trading, pyramiding and spreads.
Download freeA London city editor explains why stock and money-market prices move: credit cycles, interest rates, gold flows, crowd psychology and the roughly ten-year rhythm of booms and crises. An early, clear-headed look at market cycles that traders still recognise today.
Download freeA plain-English primer on early stock options (puts, calls, straddles and spreads) and on arbitrage between New York and London: how option contracts worked, how they were priced and used, and how arbitrageurs profited from small price gaps. From the same Wall Street Library series as The ABC of Stock Speculation.
Download freeA Wall Street veteran's guide to building wealth with stocks and bonds: how investors actually make money, bonds versus stocks, economic cycles, crises and depressions, turning points in the market, when to buy, when to sell and the old maxims of Wall Street. Earlier editions were subtitled A Fortune at Fifty-Five.
Download freeA classic personal-finance book for ordinary earners: real versus unreal wants, personal and family budgets, saving on small wages and saving with a purpose, then putting money to work through a bank account, life insurance, owning a home and safe investments, with a chapter on how to avoid losses. Paying yourself first still holds.
Download freeA Cambridge economist's classic account of how savings become investment: money and credit, how risk and imperfect knowledge raise the cost of capital, how banks collect and lend savings, and how the stock exchange handles new issues and industrial securities. An early, clear study of how capital markets work.
Download freeA full manual for founders and investors on raising money for a new business: checking whether an idea is sound, protecting it with patents and trade marks, deciding how much capital to raise and on what basis, writing the prospectus, pitching to friends, strangers and the public, underwriting and the questions every investor should ask.
Download freeA complete free textbook on starting and running a small business: finding a business idea that creates value, family businesses, e-commerce, writing a business plan, marketing, accounting and cash flow, financial management, supply chains, hiring and going global. Includes a sample business plan and Disaster Watch scenarios on common pitfalls.
Download freeOne of the three books that launched the marginal revolution in economics. Jevons argues that value comes from utility at the margin, not from labour, and builds the maths of pleasure and pain, exchange, labour, rent and capital. The foundation of the supply-and-demand thinking every investor uses.
Download freeThe standard modern reference on zakat, in two volumes. It covers who must pay, zakatable assets and the nisab, zakat on gold, silver, trade goods, livestock, crops, rental property, shares and bonds and professional earnings, who may receive it, and zakat al-fitr, with the evidence and the views of the classical schools.
Download freeA classic of Japanese practical wisdom by the 17th-century Confucian scholar Kaibara Ekiken. He argues that real pleasure lies in a calm, grateful mind, then gives down-to-earth advice on learning, self-discipline, careful speech, good conduct and getting along with others, ending with short sayings on everyday life.
Download freeA French classic on building willpower and steady work habits, reprinted more than 30 times. Payot explains why we procrastinate and drift, how ideas and emotions drive action, and how reflection, small daily actions and good surroundings train the will. Practical chapters attack laziness, distraction and the excuses of the idle.
Download freeA clear textbook on how commodity exchanges work, from Birmingham University's commerce faculty. It covers grading and warehouse warrants, how the Liverpool, London and Chicago exchanges are run, spot and futures contracts, options, clearing and settlement, and a long, practical treatment of hedging by farmers, merchants, millers and spinners.
Download freeA compact primer on investing in bonds. Sakolski sets out the basic principles of investment, how to read financial statements, how bonds are classified and secured, and what to check in government, state, municipal, railroad, public utility and industrial bonds, with a guide to sources of bond information.
Download freeBabson's popular handbook for the beginning investor. It starts with credit, choosing a bank and an investor's vocabulary, then explains how to pick bonds and stocks across railways, utilities, municipals and mining, how to read company reports, when to switch holdings, and how the money market and gold supply move prices.
Download freeA free, practical digital marketing textbook. It covers marketing strategy and research, customer behaviour, websites and UX, SEO, content and copywriting, email, social media, online advertising, e-commerce, data analytics and conversion optimisation, with case studies in every chapter. Useful for anyone selling online.
Download freeFisher's foundational book on what capital and income really are, and the source of the idea that an asset's value is the discounted value of the income it will produce. He builds the concepts of wealth, property, capital accounts, income, interest and risk, linking business accounting with economic theory.
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