Hi Josh,

I am so pleased to read that you enjoyed the article. I have several recommendations for books that may teach you the skills necessary, and I would start with the accounting works first because accounting is the language of finance.

Accounting books:

How to Read a Financial Report by John Tracy

http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Financial-Report-Wringing/dp/0470405309/…

This book is a godsend: concise, yet thorough, and very sophisticated in how it teaches how to analyze a financial report. Specifically, it shows the interrelationships between each of the financial statements and the various accounts on each financial statement. Indispensable.

Once you have mastered the skills in this book I would move on to something more complex, say:

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Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Analysis, and Valuation: A Strategic Perspective (with Thomson One Access Code) by Stickney

http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Reporting-Statement-Analysis-Valuation/…

The edition of this book that I read 17 years ago is not available any longer, but this is the more recent edition. Note: this book has quite a few STRONG negative reviews on Amazon. Yet, there is one glowing review by a CFA Level III candidate whose views on the book echoed my experience with it. What makes this book very useful is that the author compares two similar companies to each other all the way through the book. Having the real live case studies makes the information much more applicable.

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After you are comfortable with accounting I would move on to finance. I would not start with "high" finance. Why? If you want to be an equity research analyst then you need to learn to see financial management from the perspective of companies first. This requires learning corporate finance first. My favorite book here (and one of my favorite books ever, specifically because of its additional funds needed analysis) is:

Financial Management: Theory and Practice by Brigham and Erhardt

http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Management-Practice-Thomson-Business/dp…

Note: I read the fifth edition of this book, again way back in the day, and the co-author was Gapenski, not Erhardt. So I cannot vouch for the edition listed above.

After mastering the lessons in the above three books a whole world of possibility opens up to you in terms of future direction. Earlier in this blog post's comment thread I listed a number of my favorite books that cover investing. I would start with the books I starred.

Best wishes for success to you!

Jason