Product Description

"How I Made GBP2 Million in the Stock Market" is an extraordinary book. It tells one of the most unusual success stories in the history of the stock market. Darvas was not a stock market professional trading on inside information. He was one half of the highest paid dance team in show business, an expert cryptic crossword compiler, and a championship ping pong player. Yet, he was able to make himself a millionaire several times over by his unique investment approach. Unlike other so-called systems, it worked regardless of whether the market rose or fell. When news of Darvas's fantastic profits and methods leaked out, he was featured in "Time" magazine. He then was persuaded to write a book which became an instant hit, selling nearly 200,000 copies in eight weeks. Many of the companies talked about in this book no longer exist. Many of the stocks are no longer traded. Nevertheless, the basic principles are as sound as ever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19542 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

About the Author
Before emigrating to America, Darvas studied economics at the
University of Budapest. Arriving in the US in 1951, Darvas trained with his
half-sister, Julia, to be a ballroom dancer, becoming extremely succesful
and touring the world by 1956.

He discovered investing in 1952, when a Toronto nightclub, unable to pay
him in cash, instead paid him with shares.

It was on a two-year tour of the world that he initially developed his
`Darvas Box' method of screening stocks - a method of picking stocks based
on the stock's price and volume - and later went on to refine this to
remove any human element from his trading to susbtantial success.

Nicolas Darvas is regarded as one of the best traders in the history of the
market and his method, whilst complicated and difficult to master, has been
rigorously tested and has been found to be one of the best trading systems
yet developed.

Customer Reviews

Proof that simple is best
Nicolas Darvas was a professional dancer who became interested in the stock market. Because his professional job meant he travelled the world he became reliant on information that was mailed to him. He would scour Barrons Weekly for stocks with unusal volumes and when they 'broke out' of their 'box', he would buy.

His technique was in essence a breakout strategy, buying when levels of resistance became levels of support.

For me, the book delivered 3 very important lessons.
1. You need to develop your own system through trial and error and hard work
2. Scaling into positions is key (and an incredibly tough skill to master)
3. If you find a successful formula, stick with it and reap its rewards.

If you want to know the technical details of the 'Darvas Box' method, then you are probably better off searching the internet for free information - In fact you can download the Darvas box method for Tradestation (for free) and use it in your trading, however if you enjoy a well written success story that reinforces (or introduces) some basic tenets of trading, then buy this book.

Cutesy title - serious work
This book details the trades of an investor/trader who turned a small stake into $2 million in 18 months. As with most successful investor/traders he survived years of failure before developing a system and the discipline to adhere to that system which would make him rich. This is NOT your typical "I get rich by selling the book" publication. This is real, and readable.

A 1950's system that made $2million in 18 months still works
This is a truly great book! I had been aware of the importance of having a trading system to "protect" you against the emotions of stock trading for a while now. 90% of people lose money in the market. Why? Because they try and predict stock prices and get emotionally involved. They also do not know how to read entry and exit signals.

Darvas was a dancer in the 1950's who invented a completely unique stock trading system - one which still stands tall today. His system automatically sold him out of bad markets but let his profits run with rising stocks. He gave up trying to predict the market and decided to actually follow the market and let it dictate when to make a move either way. This way of working changed the emphasis of his making large losses into his making of even larger gains ($2m in 18 months - probably $10m in today's money!). The book outlines the system he successfully used.

It is, however, difficult to tease the system from the text. Darvas writes well but you have to read the book several times understand all the nuances of his system. Even then, after four readings I had some questions. If you're serious about making money in the market or are fed up losing money, you really need to read this book. If you're not fed up of losing money, you must be mad!!!

Searching on the net for more information on how to construct Darvas Boxes (essential to his system) and screen for winning stocks led me to an updated version of Darvas' system at http://www.chambers-media.com/track/Darvas_System.html. I highly recommend this system as an adjunct to the Darvas book. It elaborates on the principles outlined in this book and gives you all the tools you need to screen for the type of stock Darvas was interested in - on the Internet! Screens for stocks that have 200% increase in volume, are near their all-time high and have good earnings are all part of the package. Automatic plotting of Darvas boxes is also included.

I found after reading both the Darvas original book and the system at http://www.chambers-media.com/track/Darvas_System.html my stock picking has now made me some money. Why not start right here and do the same?