Nicolas Darvas was a world famous American dancer back in the mid 1900's. He also became famous for making $2,000,000 in the stock market in under two years with an initial investment of under $20,000.

After making a profit in some stock of a Canadian mining firm (which he bought from the proprietors of a Canadian dance venue), Darvas was hooked on chasing a quick buck in the Stock Market.

Like many before him, Darvas was convinced that having made an initial profit, he was some kind of natural born stock market speculator. However (again like many before him) Darvas took loss after loss on the Canadian stock market after buying in and out of the market on the advice of unreliable brokers and newsletters.

Telling himself that the Canadian Stock Market was for small fry, He changed course for the New York Stock Exchange. Here (again) he took loss after loss, buying in and out of the market on the advice of brokers and newsletters. Always seemingly buying at the high - then witnessing a sharp retracement - and selling at the low.

Sick of buying on the high and selling on the low, and in a fit of desperation, Darvas ploughed his money into a couple of stocks that 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 rare profit.

Darvas decide to regroup to assess this remarkable occurrence. And it was here that Darvas came up with his plan for trading stocks that was to see him achieve a multi million dollar fortune in just a couple of years.

From now on Darvas would execute his famous trading plan. Selecting stocks with new 52-week highs and suitable spikes in volume coupled with favourable fundamental company research.

This method also showed Darvas remarkable insights into a stocks price behaviour, often revealing the signs of 'inside buying' before a companies release of favourable news to the public.

After accumulating his fortune, and also being exposed in Time magazine, Darvas was to document his actions in the book How I Made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market, which of course, is well worth a read if you too are interested in learning more about his techniques. It could probably be the best $10 you spend on your stock market investing education!

Dominic Foster is a full-time Software/Web Developer and a part-time Blogger. You can visit his Blog at http://www.dominicfoster.com and his Nicolas Darvas Blog at http://www.darvastrade.com.