This billionaire is looking for European investments...

Every active investor should read these books...

While finance books are important, they aren't the best way to improve your performance in the stock market.

In today's Digest Premium, Porter shares some specific titles he thinks every investor should read.

To subscribe to Digest Premium and access today's analysis, click here.

 Wilbur Ross is a billionaire.

The 75-year-old investing legend made his fortune buying and fixing distressed businesses. He's had successful turnarounds in steel, textiles, telecom, and coal.

When people are panicking and desperate to sell distressed, unpopular – but extremely valuable – assets for 50 cents on the dollar, you can bet Ross will be there... offering 30 cents on the dollar. You don't ever want to be on the other side of Ross. He's easily one of the best investors of all time.

And today, as the European crisis is heating back up, he's sniffing around Europe...

Ross has already made a killing from his 2011 investment in the Bank of Ireland. And now, he thinks more profits are available in Spain, where he's recently been spending some time...

"We haven't decided yet whether to buy assets or to invest in banks themselves, but the likelihood is that we'll show up bidding on something in Spain," Ross told Moneynews via telephone.

 Today, Spanish banks are selling non-core assets and shrinking balance sheets to meet bailout terms. Last year, as part of Spain's bailout plan, the government created a "bad bank" to take $64 billion in bad real-estate loans off the bank's hands.

The industry is also consolidating, as large banks absorb smaller ones. According to Ross, that's bullish for profits...

 In addition to improving fundamentals, the Spanish home loan business has a strong cultural significance...

At this point, Ross said he's only analyzing opportunities in Spain and other countries across Europe.

 Even though the price of gold has fallen 25% this year... it's getting more and more expensive for banks to borrow the precious metal.

Large bullion-dealing banks and central banks will often loan gold on deposit for cash. Reasons for lending gold vary from plugging a supply-demand gap to a bank manipulating its balance sheet before reporting numbers. But as an incentive to lend, these banks usually receive a small percentage fee as part of the transaction.

But right now... the rate folks pay to borrow gold is at a post-Lehman Brothers high. The one-month gold leasing rate has risen from 0.12% a week ago to 0.3% today – the highest since early 2009.

If banks are demanding greater incentives to lend out their gold... this suggests that regardless of what the spot price of gold says, they want to hold onto their gold. Demand for physical gold is returning...

"There has been some borrowing interest recently. It's related to the demand for physical," Joni Teves, precious-metals strategist at UBS, told the Financial Times. She noted the Chinese are paying $40 an ounce above benchmark London spot prices for physical gold.

 In the July 3 Digest Premium, we warned the lack of supply in the gold market would eventually send premiums soaring...

We're not at that point yet, but we're moving in that direction.

 Another interesting fact about the gold market today...

The lack of liquidity has pushed gold forward rates negative. Gold for future delivery is trading at a discount to current spot prices.

Recall that gold futures are contracts for delivery of gold in the future. Normally, the buyer pays a premium for the right to deliver gold in the future. But right now, the options sellers would rather you wait... so buyers for future delivery get a break.

The last time this happened was November 2008 – when demand for physical gold sent prices soaring from a little more than $800 an ounce to more than $1,000 in the first quarter of 2009.

 Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages jumped to the highest level in two years.

According to online real estate firm Zillow, rates rose this week to 4.41%, up from 4.17% last week. (Rates spiked as high as 4.6% last Friday.)

The last time 30-year fixed mortgage rates exceeded 4.4% was July 26, 2011.

 As we pointed out in the July 8 Digest, banks like Wells Fargo are making a killing as long-term interest rates rise. Banks make money on the "spread" – the difference between where they borrow money and where they lend it.

Today, banks are still borrowing cheap short-term money thanks to the U.S. government. Meanwhile, the rates they're charging customers are rising.

As you see below in the new 52-week highs list below, the KBW Regional Banking Fund – a holding in Steve Sjuggerud's True Wealth advisory – also hit a new high yesterday. As the name implies, this fund is comprised of regional banks around the U.S. Regional banks focus primarily on mortgage lending. And according to their performance, lending is picking up across the country.

 Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hit an all-time high yesterday. The core of Berkshire's business is insurance. (Insurance stocks, like most financial stocks, are rising today.) But Buffett's company also owns companies in manufactured homes, paint, carpet, brick, restaurants, clothing, and private-jet leasing. Berkshire is also the single-largest shareholder of Wells Fargo.

In short, Berkshire represents the U.S. economy. And it's in an uptrend today.

Every active investor should read these books...

 Most people interested in finance and the stock market spend their time reading finance books. But I (Porter) think that's a mistake.

Don't get me wrong... You need a fundamental understanding of the markets to get started. And there are plenty of great books – like The Intelligent Investor – for that.

But if you want to be active in the markets, I think you'll benefit much more from history books.

 There are too many excellent history books to list. But here are some of my favorites...

A History of Money and Banking in the United States by Murray Rothbard is a good place to start. As the title implies, it's a great resource to learn about America's background in money and banking.

I also really like A History of Interest Rates by Sidney Homer and Richard Sylla, which will teach you about interest rates and lending.  

These two books are classics.

 I'd also refer you to A History of the American People and Modern Times by Paul Johnson. They have several valuable chapters on economic and financial issues. Most notably, his histories of the Great Depression and the U.S. steel industry are excellent.

 These aren't commonly classified as history, but I would tell you that Warren Buffett's annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders are the best thing any businessman or investor could ever read... in part because they are a living history.

Buffett documents every important financial and economic situation over the last 40 years in his letters. And best of all, they're available for free on Berkshire Hathaway's website.

I'd also recommend buying Lawrence Cunningham's collection of Buffett's essays, which is called The Letters of Warren Buffett. He has a new edition out.

 I believe that if you understand the history of money and banking... you understand a bit of U.S. history, politics, and industry... and you understand the history of investing through Buffett, you'll be positioned for success in the markets today.

– Porter Stansberry with Sean Goldsmith

Every active investor should read these books...

While finance books are important, they aren't the best way to improve your performance in the stock market.

In today's Digest Premium, Porter shares some specific titles he thinks every investor should read.

To continue reading, scroll down or click here.