"Can anyone help direct me where I can find some of the classic investment books. Im in Sydney.. "
Try the catalogues at you neighbouring municipal libraries or Borders.
As a bonus for asking the question, also have a look at the following list which I have posted previously on Hotcopper :
If you are an ambitious DIY investor and wish to get off to the best possible start, read the following:
1. The Essays of Warren Buffet: Lessons for Corporate America, Lawrence A. Cunningham (Buffett in his own words, enough said) 2. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, Philip A. Fisher (Buffett’s inspiration, a classic) 3. Random Walk Down Wall Street, Burton G. Malkiel 4. Money Masters of our time, John Train (good yarn, all the big names are featured) 5. The Intelligent Asset Allocator, William Bernstein (also recommend his other 3 books) 6. How to think like Benjamin Graham and invest like Warren Buffet, Lawrence A. Cunningham 7. Stocks for the Long Run, Jeremy J. Siegel (worth reading for the market stats alone) 8. Treasury of Investment Wisdom, Dean LeBaron (pros and cons of all major investment styles)
If you want to get into some hardcore valuations, start with these :
9. The Numbers Game, Trevor Sykes 10. Finacial Statements Demystified, David Hey-Cunningham (you need to learn the language of finance, this is an Aussie writer) 11. Investment Philosophies, Aswath Damodaran (can be downloaded free from his website) 12. Investment Valuation, Aswath Damodaran (can be downloaded free from his website)
… Do you want to *trade*?. My advice is DON’T ! But you can find out what you are up against by reading :
