Biography
Jonathan Davis is one of the UK's leading authors and commentators on stock market investment. He is the author of Money Makers (Texere, 1998), a study of the investment habits and philosophy of seven top UK investors, and Investing With Anthony Bolton, an analysis of the methods of Fidelity's legendary UK fund manager (Harriman House, 2004, revised edition 2006). He has written a fortnightly column in the Financial Times since 2007 and for 12 years before that wrote a popular weekly column in The Independent. You can subscribe to his blog and the Independent Investor newsletter via his website.
Educated at Cambridge University and MIT's Sloan School of Management, where he met and studied the methods of Warren Buffett for a Master's degree thesis, Jonathan was previously a senior business journalist at The Sunday Telegraph, The Times and The Economist. He is currently Investment Director of Agrifirma Services Ltd, advisers to a Brazilian Farmland Fund, and a Non-Executive Director of Hargreaves Lansdown plc. He holds the CFA's Investment Management Certificate.
Book Recommendations
Winning the Loser's Game
This book offers strategies for seizing control of your investment future - by working with the markets instead of against them. 'This remarkably insi...
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Capital Ideas
In this rich and lively history of the ideas that shaped modern finance, Peter Bernstein tells the story of how a small, little-known group of scholar...
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The Essays of Warren Buffett
"First class. A great job at collating our philosophy." -- Warren Buffett "Very practical." -- Charlie Munger "One of the top investment books of all ...
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Money Masters of Our Time
An expert reviews the experts - new and updated appraisals of the winning investment strategies of the greatest financial wizards. "Money Masters of...
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Common Sense on Mutual Funds
Common Sense on Mutual Funds. New Imperatives for the Intelligent Investor Forward by Peter L.Bernstein.
"Other investment execut...
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The Zulu Principle
Jim Slater is one of the foremost stockmarket investment experts of our time. His chief strengths are his uncanny ability to identify undervalued comp...
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When Genius Failed
Picking up where Liar's Poker left off (literally, in the bond dealer's desks of Salomon Brothers) the story of Long-Term Capital Management is of a g...
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Triumph of the Optimists – 101 Years of Global Investment Returns
Investors have too often extrapolated from recent experience. In the 1950s, who but the most rampant optimist would have dreamt that over the next fif...
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Engines That Move Markets
"An intriguing study of the psychology and market dynamics underlying technology–based stock market manias."
–Barry Riley, Finan...
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Barbarians at the Gate
"The most bizarre financial mock-epic of our age. Read it open-mouthed; wonder and shudder." - "Independent". This is the story of the largest corpora...
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Book Reviews
An Insider's Guide to the Mining Sector
Secrets of Success: Precious metals are getting set to go for gold
By Jonathan Davis
01 May 2004
This has not been the best of weeks for those who put their faith in gold
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(Rogers') commodities book is first class and one that I would strongly recommend, not least because it is admirably clear and (to my mind) persuasive. The Rogers thesis is that co
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The Essays of Warren Buffett
Buffett’s own favourite book - a neatly edited collection of all the best bits from his must read Annual Reports over the past quarter of a century. Definitely the place to start f
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Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
The best single volume biography, written by an experienced journalist and author, who also wrote the definitive story of the Long Term Capital Management fiasco, When Genius Faile
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How to Think like Benjamin Graham and Invest like Warren Buf
A follow up title by a New York law professor who has followed Buffett’s career for many years and edited his collected letters.
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The Warren Buffett Way
To my mind the best single volume explanation of how Buffett set about analysing stocks to buy. Hagstrom works through all the major investments that Buffett has made, attempting t
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The Warren Buffett Portfolio
Robert Hagstrom’s second book about Buffett analyses the dynamics of combining stocks in a portfolio and explains why Buffett has always preferred to hold a few large holdings rath
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The Essential Buffett
Third of Hagstrom’s books about Buffett and the least useful, in my opinion.
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The Real Warren Buffett
This book, written by an British investment manager, covers a lot of familiar ground in a readable way and helpfully adds insights on the way that Buffett set out to manage people,
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Damn Right!
This is a biography of Charlie Munger, Buffett’s longstanding business partner. Rather too close to hagiography for my taste, though some of the detail is interesting. Munger was a
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The New Buffettology
One of Buffett’s relatives offers her own take on what it is that Buffett does, and why it works so well. Some interesting insights, but not essential reading.
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Trade Like Warren Buffett
This book, written by a hedge fund manager, looks at some of the less conventional things, such as merger arbitrage, that Buffett has done as an investor. Patchy but some useful in
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Warren Buffett Wealth
A guide to the strategies that the author claims to have learnt from following Buffett’s advice over a number of years. The author was originally a shareholder in Berkshire Hathawa
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The Intelligent Investor
Ben Graham was Buffett’s friend, guide and mentor in his early career. The Intelligent Investor aims to do for the private investor what Security Analysis, Graham’s textbook, did f
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Security Analysis: 1951 Edition
The classic textbook for any would-be security analysts. First written in the 1930s and updated at regular intervals since.
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Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings
One of the books that most influenced Buffett as a young man setting out to learn about the craft of stock market investment. Elegantly written, it still reads well, despite being
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Investing in Funds Online
What Warren Buffett Thinks 2006
Investing with Anthony Bolton
What Warren Buffett Thinks 2005
Investing with Anthony Bolton, 1st edition
The Templeton Way
What Warren Buffett Thinks Now - Special Report
Money Makers
Money Makers