Customer Reviews

Wall Street: The Other Las Vegas by Nicolas Darvas (the author of How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I spent $150 on this book to buy it used before this new version was published,and I have no regrets about paying the $150. After reading over 85 books on stock trading and studying the greatest stock traders of all time, in my opinion Nicolas Darvas is the greatest stock trader who ever lived. No one that I am aware of ever made so much money in such a short amount of time with such a small starting point. Darvas started with only $2,000 in stock, his 1st stock quadrupled in a few months. With in a few years of trial and error he had turned $8,000 into $100,000 then finished out his final 18 months turning that into $2.4 million dollars (This is about 13 million adjusted for inflation). He then removed his money from the market due to no stocks meeting his criteria and avoided the bear market of the early 60's. On his journey he never lost any of his own money, only losing previous winnings.
I love this book and his previous one because he gives specifics, with dates and amounts of stocks he purchased and when he sold. His books are text books for trend followers and momentum traders. In this book he discusses how brokers and tip services make money off each generation of suckers in Wall Street and how to keep from being ripped off. I agree with his point that if your broker or the tip service were so great they would be following their own advice and making a killing in the market instead of working and selling you services and information for a few dollars. It is very important to be very careful in the Wall Street casino and not get ripped off.
This book goes into much more detail than his other book and explains exactly how to use his techno-fundamentalist system.

His method of stock investment:
TECHNICAL-
Only buy stocks that have established solid price boxes and have moved through them consistently.

Buy stocks that move into higher boxes on increased volume.

Only buy stocks breaking into all time new highs after coming out of a previous solid price box.

Set on stop buy orders to enable you to buy the stock as it breaks out of the box into the next one. This is where the big moves happen.

FUNDAMENTAL-
Trade stocks in smaller companies with less outstanding shares. This will enable greater price appreciation based on supply and demand for the shares. Look for a greatly increased volume of trade and an increasing share price.
Buy stocks in strong industry groups.

Buy stocks that have the greatest expectations of future earnings.

Even though this book has not been recommended by Willim O'Neal and IBD, they did recommend Darvas's other book, "How I made $2,000,000 in the stock market". it is an excellent companion book for followers of the CAN SLIM method of stock trading. Darvas encourages us to bet on the fastest horse with the best record not to worry so much about the kind of hay it eats or spectators opinions. I made $8,000 in one month using these methods and you will to. This book is a jewel in the ocean of stock trading books.:O DISCLAIMER: Although Darvas's system can make you a fortune in the hottest stocks in the market or in a strong up trending bull market however you must stand aside in bear markets or range bound markets just like Darvas himself did and keep your profits.

A very entartaining way to learn Darvas' trading methods. Here you can find them explained in a manner much clearer than the one found in his first book. Even the stock picking criteria is there! Even if you do not apply his methods, you'll have a good reading time.

I'm kinda on the fence as far as 4 or 5 stars but since it's Darvas I'll give him 5. It's a good book but not near as good as his first (How I Made 2,000,000...). Now that it has been reprinted and is selling at reasonable prices, it is certainly worth the time and money. If you haven't read the first book though, go buy and read it first because it's a classic.

As for the actual content of this book, I agree with the other reviewer about the first 3/4s of the book...lots of filler and general commentary about the market. That's not to say it's not entertaining, it's just not as good as the last quarter of the book.

Just buy it and read it.

The first 3/4 of this book was nothing special and will not help you in the stock market. In the last 1/4, he elaborates on his box method, which he more fully described in his first book. This elaboration is helpful, but if you have his first book (How I Made $2 Million in the Stock Market), then you don't need this one.

A classic book very much worth the price. Nicolas Darvas describes his investing journey and gives the reader a clear opportunity to learn from his success. I wish more people will "get" his message.

This book has taught me so much about investing. Totally worth the money. It's paid for itself so many times over! Can't go wrong with anything written by Nicolas Darvas!