Mark Minervini - Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard: How to Achieve Super Performance in Stocks in Any Market

TRADE LIKE A

STOCK MARKET

WIZARD

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TRADE LIKE A

STOCK MARKET

WIZARD

HOW TO ACHIEVE

SUPERPERFORMANCE

IN STOCKS IN

ANY MARKET

MARK MINERVINI

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Copyright 2013 by Mark Minervini. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-180723-4

MHID: 0-07-180723-3

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-180722-7, MHID: 0-07-180722-5.

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This book is dedicated to my mother, Lea, who sacrificed so much of her own life so that my sister and I could have a better one. To my father, Nate, who encouraged me to take a chance and follow my dreams; may they both rest in peace. And, to my wife, Elena, and daughter, Angelia; my beacons of light and promise for the future.

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Contents

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C O N T E N T S

Foreword

In my 40 years of investing I have read numerous investment

books, and you would think that I would have a large library filled with them. The truth is that my collection is quite small, because so few investment books are worth keeping. To the handful that are worth reading, one I am adding to my library is Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard by Mark Minervini. Marks book has to be on every investors bookshelf. It is about the most comprehensive work I have ever read on investing in growth stocks and includes vital details not found in other popular books on that subject.

Some investment books cover only the fundamental aspects of investing, and others cover only the technical aspects, Marks book combines the most important factors that could help you find superperformance stocks in the future. Everyone wants to own the next Apple Computer, Costco, or Home Depot, and Mark shows you what to look for.

Mark took years to research the methods that have made him successful.

He has dug up gems of investing knowledge from some of the great investment books and research most investors never knew existed. For example, a source he cites is Superperformance Stocks by Richard Love. When you combine that with the experience he gained through many market cycles, you have a book packed with vital advice that will help any investor. In each chapter, Mark clearly lays out the factors that are important for a successful investment. It is one of those books you have to reread to really grasp all that it contains

One of the best sections of the book is Marks description of the life cycle of a growth stock. You get a fundamental and technical picture of where a stock is along the different phases of its move from the start in phase 1, to ix

x F O R E W O R D

the acceleration of earnings and price performance in phase 2, to the topping process in phase 3, to the trip back down in price as earnings slow in phase 4.

He shows this not only with price charts but with tables of earnings and sales to show what is happening fundamentally as a growth stock moves over time.

In the last two chapters of the book, which you should probably read first, Mark discusses risk management. This is vital because so many investors seem to get into the right stocks but dont know how to take a profit or when to sell as a position goes against them. He discusses the psychological factors that prevent most investors from cutting a loss. Can you believe that an investor of Marks stature is right only 50 percent of the time and has still made a fortune! That is due to his use of risk management.

I have always believed that to be a successful investor you have a large tuition bill to pay in hard losses at the University of Wall Street before you can graduate and start making money. Mark supplies the best textbook on growth stock investing, and so you can avoid paying such a high tuition.

With his help, a determined effort, and discipline, you can get an Ivy League education for the cost of a hardcover book. If you are a seasoned investor this book is a graduate-level class that will certainly add to your investment knowledge, as it has mine. Mark has also saved me a great deal of time because he wrote the book that I always wanted to write and did it better than I ever could!

Enjoy, and may you all have investment success!

David Ryan

Three-time U.S. Investing Champion