Nicolas Darvas: 1955 - 1960

What make I Like About Saint Nicholas Darvas?

Where make I start? I see Nicolas Darvas the BEST trader, or as he him-self said "investor" in the world. I'll acknowledge one man's poisonous substance is another man's medicine. You cannot really define what is the world's BEST trader. It's my opinion.

Why? You must, absolutely MUST, read, re-read, survey and believe about every line in the book "How I Made $2 Million in the Stock Market". I won't lie when I state I have got read it over 100 modern times and I still read it at least once per month. Amazingly I maintain learning new points.

Darvas was actually the first CANSLIM bargainer without going into the finer points. This may up-set William O'Neal followers. Whilst Darvas did not actually analyze earnings, sectors, shares outstanding etc. his off the whomp stock choice meant he was using CANSLIM methods. Don't forget this was manner back in the late 1950's.

He turned $25,000 into $2,25 million by scanning the newspapers in just five proceedings during the late, nighttime early morning, period. He him-self said it wasn't so much the amount of money he made that pleased him but the easiness and peace of head it was achieved. It was sol easy. Admittedly, he was lucky in that he traded his system during a boom bull market. But his system do money in all market conditions. It's just a fact that you'll do a batch more during a run-away bull market. That tin be said for most systems.

The perfect attitude for trading. When he was incorrect on a trade he shrugged his shoulders, cut his losings and looked for the adjacent one. No second guessing. No emotion. No egotism involved. He told the reporter who interviewed him for a clip magazine article he only expected to be right one-half the time.

Without uncertainty his best quality was his ability to inquiry everything. When he was incorrect why? What worked and why? What didn't work in the stock market and why? Question everything and eliminate what doesn't work. He pieced together a system that fitted his personality. The individual who can make this volition be a large victor in the markets.

Flaws:

What flaws can the world's best bargainer have? Actually there is 1 and it was a very dangerous one.

Money management. Male Child was he lucky! Buying a 100% place on leverage on one stock could have got been the death of his account. When he bought 2,500 shares, on margin, of E.L David Bruce (a small cap un-known stock) IF things had have got got turned ugly here, i.e. terms gapped down or drop off very sharply, no uncertainty Darvas would have been finished. Instead of authorship a book about how he made his luck in the Stock Market he might have got written one about how a luck was lost. Luckily he made over $300,000 from this transaction alone. Had he have got got got had some money management regulations in place, certain the additions would not have been as big, but at least IF things hadn't have worked out he could dwell to struggle another day.

A number of occasions Darvas "plunged" into the market with small idea to money management and risk. Ignorance really was bliss. Jesse Mary Ashton Rice Livermore was not quite so lucky.

Conclusion:

A shining visible light of hope to the adult male on the street that anyone given time, education, desire and determination can do BIG money in the stock market. You don't have got got to have state of the fine art technology, data, or in-side information to do monolithic returns.

If Darvas can do $2,25 million by scanning the document for five proceedings before bed what makes that say for today's Hi-tech trading techniques?

His methods still work and always will work. If it halts so will the stock market.

* * * * 1/2 41/2 Star Trader (P.S. there will never be a 5 star trader)