The difference between "investing" and "speculation." Focus on chapters 8 & 20. Also see the 1st through 4th editions of Graham's "Security Analysis" to learn how to think about valuation.

Basics on valuation modelling. Skip the cost-of-capital nonsense. See also: http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/ Next, check out John Burr William's classic "Theory of Investment Value" to see the first DCF model, and Poundstone's "Fortune's Formula." It's also worth taking the 3-year CFA course - you can do it in 18 to 24 months.

This is the single best book on how to read a cash flow statement. It teaches one how to assess a company's SUSTAINABLE FREE CASH FLOW, which is what a rational investor uses to value a company. Practice by doing.

A historical perspective on crashes and downturns. Markets are often fairly efficient, but not always. The difference is night and day. Chancellor's "Devil Take the Hindmost" is the perfect complement. Also the financial histories by John Brooks, Paul Blustein's crisis books, Desai's "Financial Crisis," & Franklin Allen's "Understanding Financial Crises." See also Tvede's "Business Cycles."

It's important to understand the macro "big picture." Maggie Mahar's "Bull" and Jeffry Frieden's "Global Capitalism" are also worth reading, along with Galbraith's "Money: Whence It Came" and Grant's "Money of the Mind."

Learning the limits of bean-counting is important if you wish to really understand accounting. See Wells' "Fraud Casebook" for the dark side - avoiding junk.

An out-of-print book on hedging. It's a classic, esp. for intelligent long/short work. A silly title, but the book is so good that it's expensive! See Frank Knight's "Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit" or read John Bogle's article: http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/ref/10.2469/faj.v64.n2.9

Foundations. Advanced qualitative tools for identifying good businesses. These are the economic value drivers behind the financial ratios. Also see Porter's "Competitive Strategy." You need to understand the economic forces behind accounting numbers.

Sam Walton was a business genius and a class act too. He built the strongest company of the 20th century. He was simple yet obsessive and ruthlessly adaptive. Fishman's "The Walmart Effect" brings the story up-to-date.

Delusion can make a weak business into a great stock, as in Enron's case (but only for the short-run). Older, instructive failures are McDonald's "Insull" and Katz's "The Big Store" (Sears' downfall).

Loeb hits you hard; he tries both to invest and speculate. The line is thin and dangerous. Focus on pp. 49-62, 119-124. Levy's "The Mind of Wall Street" is a fun modern memoir, and John Train's "Money Master" series is decent.

Governance/ownership is important, and silly investors forget this (activists live on it). See Bebchuk's "Pay without Performance", Einhorn's "Fooling Some of the People", and Stevens' "King Icahn."

Mark Roe has the best bankruptcy casebook, and Steve Miller's "The Turnaround Kid" shows the nastiness from the business side.

Practical advice on how to capitalize on your area of knowledge and your strengths in picking stocks. Neff's "John Neff On Investing" is solid too. The key point is not to dally; use index ETFs, or put time/effort into your own investing.

For tech, see Merges' IP survey of "Intellectual Property in the New Tech. Age." For those who hate law, see the relevant "In a Nutshell" series or any of the Aspen books.

Facts on asset classes, long-term returns, the impermanance of value. Seigel's "The Future for Investors" is worthwhile too. See also the Morningstar book on Stocks, Bills, & Bonds and Dimson's Global Investment Returns Book.