Comments on: Up-trend continues; some Darvas rocket stocks; daily stochastics declining

By: James

James — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:21:33 +0000

A common mistake is buying overextended out of a base. Better to buy coming out of a low volume cup after the last remaining sellers have been shaken out. Without those sellers, the stock can now rise.

By: Dr. Wish

Dr. Wish — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:20:28 +0000

The Darvas approach of buying strong stocks near all-time highs still works. A key to his success was placing close stop losses below his break-out point so that when he was wrong he lost little. It took me a long time to realize the key to profits was to have many small losses and a few large gains. All winning strategies suffer losses. The key is to follow one’s rules, taking small losses, until one hits a winner. NEU is an example of a stock near its all-time high that broke out from a base to a new high on 8/24/2009, around 83.50. It closed on Tuesday around 110. I have found it useful to look at charts of past winners and to look for successful buy points that I could apply to other stocks.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:57:26 +0000

Dr. Wish, Darvas’ strategy does not work all the time. All those I’ve bought this year at the highest price turned out to be losers because they came down fast and never went back up all the way, short or long term. In 2009 I’ve profited only buying those near the bottom price. A short while ago, you said yourself you lost money buying at peak price. Perhaps Darvas’ plan worked during his time, not during our current economy. Agree?

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Dr. Wish – what is the Darvas scan? Have you ever posted the elements that make up this scan? Tahnks, in advance.