World Famous Comics: How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market
How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market
By: Nicolas Darvas Publisher: Lyle Stuart Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Lyle Stuart Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 197 Publication Date: February 01, 2001
Book Description: How did a world-famous dancer with no knowledge of the stock market, or of finance in general, make 2 million dollars in the stock market in 18 months starting with only $10,000? Darvas is legendary, and with good reason. Find out why.
Gems for a lifetime.....but beware! Back in 1980, I came across a copy of the original version of this book in a used book store. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it. I had been floundering around in the stock market for a year or two, and suddenly, after reading this book, I knew what I was up against, and why it was so hard.
This book is one of my favorite books of all time, on any subject. It's an absolute must read for anyone interested in stock trading. William O'Neill's methods as used in Investors Business Daily, is mostly based on Darvas' method, and Jesse Livermore's.
I'm not going to repeat all the details that can be found in other reviews, but I would like to add a few things.
The first one is this quote by Darvas, that was the culmination of all the trials and tribulations that had gone on before:
"The only sound reason for my buying a stock is that it is rising in price. If that is happening, no other reason is necessary. If that is not happening, no other reason is worth considering."
I point this out because anybody who has ever bought an IBD 100 stock knows that all of the stocks at the top of the list are stocks that have been rising in the immediate past. I also point this quote out, because of my next point.
Two, the Darvas method, like the IBD method ONLY works in rising markets. In sideways or down markets, you can get creamed. In my 30+ years of trading, I've tended to use this method MUCH LESS than other methods, for the simple reason that it doesn't work year in and year out, and that one tends to buy stocks at the top so that you're forced to keep selling stocks you just boought.
Sure, when it works, man is it great. I guess if a person only used it at the right times it would be wonderful, but year in and year out you are constantly faced with times when it doesn't work very well.
Even Darvas lost huge amounts of money after writing this book, and the next one in 1964. By time he wrote "You can still make millions in the market" in 1977 you could tell he was a beaten man when he ventured back into the market.
C.C. Hazard (pseudonymn), in his book "Confessions of a Wall Street Insider" {1972} talks about how no method really works all that well over time. As a life long stock broker, he saw it all. One time (around the time of the writing of his book) he had a broker friend of his check on Darvas' account balance. He wasn't surprised to find that Darvas had lost most of his money that he made in the 60s.
Also, I was amazed to see that Darvas' estate (or whoever owns the rights to the story) has published so many other books recently. Why would they need to do that? I would think they would be using his method to make millions in the stock market, wouldn't you?
So, BEWARE of this method and the IBD method. Over the long run you will find that they work less often than they don't.
One of the must read Dravas is one of the best speculator. He is able to keep his profit and he has his own style. The method of trading is capable for any, if not too stupid, investor. Buy this one, don't buy other books because they're unaudited and no difference from How I Made $2,000,000.
Why Some people WRITE to much. I do not know why some people write to much about their openions on this book or any other books. Hey Friends, we do not have time to reade all your opinions. Please write all your opinion in short sentences. Thanks
Fun & Quick Read In review of How I Made 2,000,000 In the Stock Market, I found the book to be overall worth the read. The story is about a young professional dancer who happens to begin trading in the stock market during the early part of the twentieth century. The book goes over a lot of the lessons he learns, some of which are applicable today and some of which are not.
A few key items to keep in mind are:
1. Learn to take a profit 2. Minimize your losses 3. Think about utilizing Stop Loss Orders when you purchase a stock. 4. Buy only appreciating stocks, never depreciating.
The author develops what I call "box theory" throughout the book. This translates to the author following a stock for a given period of time and drawing a high and a low point in which he expects the stock to trade inside. Once the stock breaks the top of a box (into the low of a new box) he will buy the stock.
If anything, I would recommend this book for the very begining person who is interested in making trades inside of the market. It's a fun read and very short. It might be a little dated where as the Internet has GREATLY changed the way we trade and the extension of how many people can obtain information quickly compared to the author, but most of his thinking still holds true today.
More like a pamphlet than a book, but still good... Kind of antiquated now, but still a good story. The author tells the story of how he made a fortune in the markets - $2 million in his time is probably more like $10-$15 million now. He started by investing based on tips, then on fundamentals, and finally by combining technicals and fundamentals. It's educational and very readable. The amazing thing is how little Wall Street and the investing world have changed since Darvas made his fortune in the 50s.
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