I Want To Get Into Investing. How To Improve Your Knowledge Of Markets?

Hi WSO,

I am a math major and I and interested in possibly working in HF.

Reading about hedge funds and investing, it seems like one has more room to use his brain at work (correct me if I'm wrong). However, I have extremely little knowledge of finance. I've done some personal investing but honestly my decisions were based on weak logic and gut feeling. I have read Margin of safety, but the book was a bit boring . I had fun investing and making some lucky profits but it was based on nothing rigorous. I am really interested in the markets and I want to learn more about it, but I am not sure what the best way is.

I'm posting on this forum because I'm not sure what sources of info to read, what books to read, and how I should better understand the market. I don't want to waste my time learning bullshit.

How can I improve upon my knowledge in investing? What books did you use to teach yourself accounting/finance/investing/trading? Are there any investment strategies that you guys utilize that is proven and effective? What’s the best way to learn about asset classes, modeling and valuation?

Is there a guide or textbook to learn the fundamentals of the causes/effects such as what happens when interest rates rise, etc.

What kind of financial models do Hedge Funds use? What types of models do you use for your personal account?

Thank you all in advance.