market folly

This is the second post in our series of four articles divulging hedge fund Blue Ridge Capital's recommended reading list. Last week, we looked at Blue Ridge's recommended Analytical Reading List, which was full of many great books. This week, we'll turn to their Historical & Biographical list.

Long-time blog readers will know that we track Blue Ridge because they are the pure definition of a Tiger Cub. Griffin was Julian Robertson's right-hand man while at Tiger Management and was one of the first to strike out on his own. And, Blue Ridge is also a part of the Tiger Cub Portfolio created with Alphaclone where you can replicate their 15.5% annualized returns since 2000. (More info on Griffin at the bottom for those unfamiliar).

We're going to post each reading list category separately as they are quite comprehensive. We've already covered the Analytical, and below is the Historical/Biographical. Over the next week, we'll also cover Blue Ridge's favorite reads on the topics of Economics and then Behaviorial Finance. Without further ado:

Biographical/Historical

The Money Masters ( & The New Money Masters) both by John Train: Covers experts on various schools of investing thought: growth, value, emerging markets, turnarounds, top-down, bottom-up, and more.

No Bull by Michael Steinhardt: Autobiography by one of the first true hedge fund managers out there. His firm survived the collapse of the 1960's.

Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve by George Soros: An interview with Soros (an entire book's worth) regarding his investment philosophies and more.

Where Are the Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed: Humorous and entertaining book about the hypocrisy and folly of Wall Street (sounds like our kind of book!)

The New Market Wizards & Interviews with Top Traders both by Jack Schwager (and staples on our reading list): Inside look at some of the best traders in the game, including many fund managers who we cover on the blog

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre (also on our previous lists): Takes you inside the mind of a trading and provides tons of trading wisdom and insight.

Classic II: Another Investor's Anthology by Ellis & Vertin:

The Great Game by John S. Gordon: History of how New York became the world's "preeminent financial power."

Famous First Bubbles by Peter Garber: Explanations of the three most famous bubbles in history: Dutch Tulips, Mississippi Buble, and the South Sea Bubble.

Chainsaw: The Notorious Career of Al Dunlap by John Byrne: Documentation of the rise and fall of a man known for downsizing corporations for short-term shareholder gain.

The Essays of Warren Buffett by the Oracle himself: Lessons from Warren Buffett over the years.

Go-Go Years: Drama and Crashing Finale of Wall Street's Bullish 60s by John Brooks: A look at the rise of growth stocks in the 1960's that led to the ultimate fall in the 1970's.

Baruch: My Own Story by Bernard Baruch

Wall Street: A History by Charles Giesst


There you have it, Blue Ridge's recommended historical and biographical works. Stay tuned as we cover the other remaining two sections. In the mean time, make sure you also check out our past Recommended Reading Lists where we've covered the topics of:

- Blue Ridge Capital's Recommended Analytical Reading

- Fundamentals

- Good Market Reads

- Gurus

- Technical analysis

- John Burbank's hedge fund Passport Capital: Suggested Reading List


Background on Blue Ridge:

Griffin is a Tiger Cub, and as mentioned above, he was Julian Robertson's right hand man. So, needless to say, he knows his stuff. Blue Ridge seeks absolute returns by investing in companies who dominate their industries and shorting the companies who have fundamental problems. While hedge funds typically closely guard their short positions, we've gotten a sneak peek in the past at what Blue Ridge had been shorting. Both Griffin at Blue Ridge and Lee Ainslie over at Maverick Capital like to effectively hedge with a solid balance of both long and short positions (like a true hedge fund... not like some of the crazy funds these days that aren't truly hedged). Griffin attended the University of Virginia for undergrad and received his MBA from Stanford.