Hungarian by birth, Nicolas Darvas trained as an economist at the University of Budapest. Reluctant to remain in Hungary until either the Nazis or the Soviets took over, he fled at the age of 23 with a forged exit visa and fifty pounds sterling to stave off hunger in Istanbul, Turkey. During his off hours as a dancer, he read some 200 books on the market and the great speculators, spending as much as eight hours a day studying.
Darvas invested his money into a couple of stocks that had been hitting their 52-week high. He was utterly surprised that the stocks continued to rise and subsequently sold them to make a large profit. His main source of stock selection was Barron's Magazine. At the age of 39, after accumulating his fortune, Darvas documented his techniques in the book, How I Made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market. The book describes his unique "Box System", which he used to buy and sell stocks. Darvas' book remains a classic stock market text to this day.
©2012 BN Publishing (P)2012 BN Publishing
"Like listening to my own history"
This book gives a great perspective of a investor just starting out and trying to feel their way through the stock market. Touches on many of the subjects that hamper new and experienced traders, like over-trading, death by commissions, selling winners and letting losers run, and gambling. Nice to know that someone who succeeded made the same mistakes as you along the way.
The non-wall street type innocence of the Darvas.