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 50 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.