1장
The Wizard's Trading Secrets: Turning Market Knowledge into Extraordinary Gains
What separates the elite 5% of traders who consistently make fortunes from the 95% who struggle or fail? In Mark Minervini's "Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard," we discover the answer isn't luck or privileged information-it's a disciplined methodology built on decades of research and real-world application. Starting with just thousands of dollars, Minervini became a multimillionaire by age 34 and achieved the seemingly impossible: a 220% average annual return over five years with minimal risk. His approach has attracted attention from financial luminaries like Jack Schwager, who featured him in "Stock Market Wizards," noting most traders "would be delighted to have Minervini's worst year-a 128 percent gain-as their best." This comprehensive blueprint reveals how an eighth-grade dropout transformed himself into one of Wall Street's most successful traders through relentless study and unwavering discipline.
2장
The Mindset That Creates Market Wizards
The journey to trading mastery begins with the right psychological foundation. Minervini emphasizes that success requires no formal education or special connections-just dedication and a burning desire to succeed. Despite lacking even a high school diploma, his thirst for knowledge drove him to build a personal library of over 1,000 investment books and develop a fanatical approach to market study.
"Don't let anyone convince you superperformance is impossible," Minervini insists. "They only say so because they never achieved it themselves." This mindset of possibility is crucial, as many traders fail not from lack of intelligence but from limiting beliefs about what's achievable.
Minervini saw the stock market as the ultimate meritocracy-a place offering unlimited potential without prejudice against his lack of credentials. This perspective transformed his approach to setbacks. When he endured six consecutive years of net losses, he persisted through what he calls "unconditional persistence," understanding that most people overestimate short-term achievements while underestimating long-term accomplishments.
The difference between interest and commitment became clear: interest starts you off, but only commitment gets you to the finish line. Minervini worked 70-80 hours weekly perfecting his trading skills, often analyzing stocks until sunrise despite seeing no immediate results. This preparation eventually intersected with opportunity when the 1990s bull market emerged, allowing him to capitalize on lessons learned from his trial-and-error period.
Perhaps most importantly, Minervini discovered that passion must drive the process. The best traders wake up excited about finding their next superperformer, motivated by becoming the best they can be rather than just by money. "My greatest success came when I focused on being the best trader possible rather than chasing money-then the money followed," he explains. This principle applies universally: let your passion drive you, concentrate on excellence, and financial rewards will naturally follow.
3장
Breaking Free from Conventional Wisdom
Conventional wisdom produces conventional results, not exceptional ones. Minervini challenges several deeply entrenched market myths that keep most investors trapped in mediocrity.
First, he dismantles the idea that you need substantial capital to succeed. Starting with just a few thousand dollars, Minervini grew his account to $160,000 within years, then half a million shortly after. "With persistence, you can parlay modest winnings into a personal fortune," he asserts, pointing to traders like David Ryan who achieved triple-digit returns and won investing championships starting with modest sums.
Second, he rejects the notion that "it's different this time" during market cycles. Despite technological advancements, stocks rise and fall for the same emotional reasons they always have. "With 30 years of experience and historical analysis going back to the 1900s, I can assure you that history repeats itself consistently," Minervini states. Your success depends on how good a student of market history you become.
Third, he emphasizes that your greatest obstacle isn't the market-it's you. After losing his first investment following a broker's recommendation on a supposed biotech company with an AIDS cure (which plummeted from $18 to under $1), Minervini learned to never surrender investment decisions to others. "If you aren't willing to invest significant time before investing money, you're just throwing darts," he warns.
Perhaps most counterintuitively, Minervini advises against mimicking professional fund managers. Individual investors have built-in advantages that could outperform experts if they stop listening to professionals. Institutional investors face significant disadvantages, particularly size constraints that force them into large-cap stocks with substantial liquidity. Most institutions must stay diversified and invested even during terrible markets, rarely raising more than 5-10% cash. Individuals, by contrast, can react instantly to price trends without committee approvals, utilizing stop-loss protection while concentrating on well-selected names at lower risk.
Finally, Minervini rejects the balanced approach. Champions aren't balanced-they're laser-focused on their goals. To become great at trading, you must specialize rather than trying to master every style. You can't successfully switch between being a value trader, growth trader, day trader and long-term investor as market conditions change. Define your style clearly to avoid the paralyzing emotions of indecisiveness and regret that plague most traders.
4장
The SEPA Strategy: Finding Superperformers Before They Soar
In the early 1980s, Minervini began trading by impulsively buying low-priced "beaten up" stocks, assuming they were bargains. This approach produced dreadful results. Meanwhile, he noticed stocks hitting 52-week highs often soared higher, contradicting conventional wisdom. This observation led him to develop his Specific Entry Point Analysis (SEPA) methodology-a framework for identifying elite candidates with superperformer potential.
SEPA combines corporate fundamentals with technical behavior, based on rigorous research and decades of real-world application. Its foundation consists of five key elements:
1) Trend - Virtually all superperformers occur in definite price uptrends identifiable early.
2) Fundamentals - Most are driven by improvements in earnings, revenue and margins that materialize before the superperformance phase.
3) Catalyst - Every big gainer has something driving institutional interest, from new products to FDA approvals.
4) Entry points - Timing is critical for catching meteoric rises at low risk.
5) Exit points - Establishing stop-losses to protect capital and knowing when to take profits.
Minervini executes trades only when there's alignment across company fundamentals, stock price, volume activity, and overall market conditions-what he calls "probability convergence." By demanding stocks cross multiple hurdles, you're more likely to identify exceptional opportunities.
Through extensive research, Minervini discovered that superperformance stocks share common characteristics. They typically already have decent earnings and periods of fundamental and technical outperformance before their biggest gains. Over 90% begin their phenomenal price surges as the general market emerges from a correction or bear market. Most experience their dramatic moves during their first decade after IPO, when they're still relatively small and nimble.
Size matters significantly-smaller market capitalization means less supply of available stock, requiring less demand to move prices significantly. Minervini focuses on small to medium-sized companies with accelerating earnings and sales, preferably with proven profitability and business models that can scale.
Computer-assisted screening helps filter thousands of stocks down to manageable candidates meeting minimum criteria. However, Minervini emphasizes that while computers excel at filtering noise, consistent superperformance requires manual analysis-the rewarding part of trading. The ideal approach combines technological efficiency with human judgment.
5장
Value Comes at a Price: The P/E Paradox
Traditional value investing turns upside down in growth stock investing-what seems cheap may prove expensive, while apparently expensive stocks often become superperformers. Minervini challenges conventional wisdom about valuation metrics, particularly the price/earnings (P/E) ratio.
Standard P/E ratios reflect historical results rather than future potential-the critical element for stock appreciation. Forward-looking P/Es rely on estimates that frequently prove wrong. When companies disappoint, analysts revise projections downward, causing P/Es to rise as earnings shrink. Focus instead on companies reporting strong earnings that trigger upward estimate revisions, as strong growth makes stocks better values regardless of P/E.
Buying stocks solely because they're cheap creates a psychological trap. When the stock moves against you, it becomes even cheaper, making it harder to sell based on your original buying rationale. The cheaper it gets, the more attractive it seems, leading to dangerous thinking. Most investors seek bargains instead of leaders and typically get what they pay for.
Growth stocks naturally command premium valuations, often trading at 3-4 times market multiples or higher. Stocks with superperformance potential frequently sell at seemingly unreasonable P/Es, scaring away amateurs. Most legendary winning stocks traded at 30-40 times earnings before their largest advances. Fast-growing companies logically deserve higher multiples, and avoiding stocks because they seem expensive means missing the biggest market movers.
Wall Street struggles to properly value companies growing at extraordinary rates. In June 1997, Minervini purchased Yahoo! at an astounding 938 times earnings when it was virtually unknown but leading the Internet revolution. The stock advanced 7,800% in just 29 months while its P/E expanded to over 1,700 times earnings-a move most institutional investors missed because they focused on the wrong price drivers.
The stock market doesn't trade on objective measures of "intrinsic value" like P/E ratios. If it did, accountants would be the world's greatest traders. Everything is relative, subjective, and dynamic. Stock prices move based on what people think-perception drives demand, which moves prices. Without willing buyers, even high-quality companies' stocks are worthless.
Comparing a stock's high P/E to its intrinsic value is like saying a van Gogh painting is overvalued because the canvas and paint cost only $40. In reality, the "expensive" market leader often proves cheaper long-term than lower-P/E, poorer-performing stocks. In the 2008 crash, value investing offered no protection-the worst-performing categories were low price-to-sales (down 66.9%), low price-to-book (down 68.8%), and low P/E ratio stocks (down 70.9%).
6장
Trading with the Trend: The Four Stages of Stock Movement
Success in stock trading combines science and art-mechanical signals backed by research plus intuitive feel. While many market aspects aren't black and white, certain "nonnegotiable criteria" must be met, particularly regarding a stock's technical action and alignment with the prevailing trend.
Newton's first law states an object in motion continues in motion-similarly, market trends tend to persist until something changes them. Minervini's approach emphasizes buying stocks transitioning from stage one (consolidation) to stage two (uptrend), selling as they approach stage three (topping), and avoiding stage four (decline).
Stage 1: The Neglect Phase (Consolidation)
During stage 1, nothing noteworthy is happening with a stock. Earnings, sales, and margins may be lackluster or erratic, matching the share price behavior. The company or industry outlook might be uncertain, and there's insufficient institutional interest to drive the stock into a decisive uptrend. This phase can last months or years. Stock prices move sideways without sustained directional movement, oscillating around their 200-day moving average without establishing a real trend. Volume typically contracts and remains relatively light compared to the previous decline phase.
Stage 2: The Advancing Phase (Accumulation)
Stage 2 advances may be triggered by surprise news like regulatory changes, promising business outlooks, or earnings surprises. During this phase, the stock price escalates as institutional demand surges. Charts show big volume on rallies with lower volume on pullbacks-clear signs of accumulation. The stock moves in a stair-step pattern of higher highs and lows. Key indicators include: price above 200-day moving average, 200-day average in uptrend, 150-day average above 200-day, clear staircase pattern, short-term moving averages above long-term ones, and volume spikes on up days/weeks contrasted by volume contractions during pullbacks.
Stage 3: The Topping Phase (Distribution)
Eventually, earnings growth slows and momentum fades. In stage 3, accumulation gives way to distribution as smart money that bought early takes profits by selling to weaker, late-arriving buyers. Volatility increases markedly with erratic price movement. The stock experiences major price breaks on overwhelming volume, often undercutting its 200-day moving average multiple times. The 200-day moving average flattens and eventually rolls over into a downtrend.
Stage 4: The Declining Phase (Capitulation)
Stage 4 begins when earnings momentum is lost, often triggered by a negative surprise or lowered guidance. What was once an uptrend has become a full-blown downtrend. Earnings models are revised downward, creating more selling pressure. The decline may continue until exhausted, returning the stock to stage 1. In stage 4, most price action occurs below the 200-day moving average, the 200-day average is in definite downtrend, the stock hits 52-week lows, and price forms lower lows and lower highs.
History shows virtually every superperformance stock was in a definite uptrend before its big advance-99% traded above their 200-day moving averages and 96% above their 50-day averages. Minervini applies his Trend Template criteria to every stock consideration, requiring all eight criteria to be met before purchase.
Within the overall uptrend, there are shorter-term pullbacks and basing periods lasting 5-26 weeks typically. During these consolidations, the stock moves sideways before making its next push higher. The stock continues stair-stepping higher from base to base throughout the stage 2 advance. After 3-5 bases form during a stage 2 uptrend, momentum often ceases and the top is put in.
7장
The Fundamentals That Drive Superperformers
When stocks suffer major price breaks, fundamental problems with the company or industry are usually the cause. Even prestigious companies like General Motors, Citigroup, and AIG can collapse when fundamentals deteriorate. The market cares little about past status-what drives superperformance is growth in earnings and sales.
In the stock market, earnings drive prices. The key questions are: How much can a company earn? For how long? And how certain are these projections? Profitability, sustainability, and visibility are what move stock prices. Institutional investors like mutual funds and hedge funds use models identifying earnings surprises. When companies beat expectations, analysts must revise estimates upward, increasing projected values and attracting buyers.
An earnings surprise occurs when results exceed or fall short of analysts' consensus estimates. Positive surprises can trigger buying waves with effects lasting months. Despite efficient market theory claims, prices don't instantly adjust to new information due to timing differences and liquidity constraints. This creates "post-earnings drift"-persistent price movement in the direction of the surprise.
Like finding one cockroach suggests more are nearby, companies reporting earnings surprises often continue the pattern in subsequent quarters. Strong earnings from one company may indicate similar results from others in the same industry. Conversely, companies missing estimates frequently disappoint again later. Focus on companies beating estimates and avoid those with negative surprises.
More than 90% of the biggest stock market winners showed earnings acceleration before or during their huge price moves. This means the growth rate itself is increasing quarter to quarter-for example, going from -5% to +10% to +28% to +56% year-over-year. This sequential acceleration in earnings growth is a powerful predictor of stock performance.
The best stock performers show both strong earnings and strong sales growth. Many market leaders display triple-digit sales growth in recent quarters, sometimes consistently for years. Strong earnings backed by brisk sales, rather than accounting tricks, drive superior performance.
The most powerful combination for explosive stock price appreciation occurs when a company grows sales at an accelerating rate while simultaneously expanding profit margins. This potent recipe allows earnings to grow much faster than if only one factor were accelerating. Look for what Minervini calls a Code 33 situation-three quarters of acceleration in earnings, sales, and profit margins.
Even when a company is still growing at respectable rates, material deceleration from previous growth rates is a serious warning sign. Consider Dell Computer, which grew earnings at 80% annually from 1995-1997, then declined to 65% in 1998 and 28% in 1999. Though still decent growth, this deceleration marked the end of Dell's tremendous stock price run. Ten years later, Dell's stock was down more than 80% from its high.
8장
Mastering the Art of Chart Reading
Charts are invaluable tools that reveal the fundamental battle between supply and demand in the market. Despite proponents of efficient market hypothesis claiming markets are perfectly priced, Minervini's career proves this theory flawed. Markets are driven by emotional, imperfect human decisions creating discrepancies and opportunities. Charts distill this clash into visual displays showing the verdict of supply and demand.
The most common mistake amateurs make with charts is ignoring the big picture-the prevailing trend. Before focusing on entry points, determine if the stock is in a stage 2 uptrend. Never go against the long-term trend. A "great base" in a long-term downtrend is like focusing on low cholesterol when you have pneumonia-you're missing the bigger problem.
After identifying a stage 2 uptrend, look for proper base formations-not just any sideways movement. A constructive price consolidation is a period of rest where previous movement meets temporary profit-taking, leading to equilibrium. The best stocks correct the least percentagewise during consolidation. These bases typically form over 3 to 60 weeks, with distinctive patterns that signal whether a stock should be bought or sold.
The volatility contraction pattern (VCP) is Minervini's "Holy Grail" concept for identifying optimal entry points. Almost all constructive price structures under accumulation show volatility contraction with specific areas of significant volume contraction. He looks for stocks moving from greater volatility on the left side of the price base to lesser volatility on the right, establishing a precise entry at the line of least resistance.
During a VCP, you'll typically see two to six contractions, with the stock initially selling off by perhaps 25%, then 15%, then 8%-a progressive reduction in price volatility accompanied by volume reduction. Each successive contraction should be contained to about half the previous pullback.
While "buy low, sell high" is common advice, buying at new 52-week highs during early bull markets can identify stellar performers in their infancy. Unlike stocks at 52-week lows that face overhead supply and lack momentum, stocks hitting new highs have no supply overhead. Waiting for stage 2 confirmation provides evidence that institutions believe fundamentals are solid.
The pivot point represents the completion of a stock's consolidation and the cusp of its next advance-the "line of least resistance" as Jesse Livermore called it. This is the optimal buy point where a stock breaks out of its consolidation pattern, often into new high territory. When a stock crosses this threshold, it can move very fast because supply is low and even small demand can drive prices higher.
Every correct pivot point develops with a contraction in volume, often well below average with at least one day of extremely low volume. Ideally, volume on the final contraction should be below the 50-day average. This decreased volume indicates stock has stopped coming to market-with little supply, even small buying can move prices rapidly.
Never try to get in before a stock breaks through its pivot point just to save a few pennies. If the pivot point is tight, there's no material advantage to early entry-you only take on unnecessary risk. Let the stock break above the pivot and prove itself.
9장
The Risk Management Principles That Preserve Wealth
Risk management is the most important building block for achieving consistent success in the stock market. While anyone can have short-term success by being in the right place at the right time, consistency separates professionals from amateurs. Minervini has seen many people make millions during good times only to lose everything later.
To achieve consistent profitability, you must protect both profits and principal. A common mistake is treating trading profits as "house money" that's less important to protect than original capital. Once you make a profit, that money belongs to you and becomes part of today's principal. Unlike amateur gamblers who make reckless bets with their winnings, Minervini typically gives a stock less room on the downside once it's moved up significantly.
Losses work against you geometrically. A 50% decline requires a 100% gain to break even, while a 10% loss needs only an 11% gain, and a 5% loss just 5.26%. This is why you must never let losses grow large-they destroy capital and buying power. Set an absolute maximum loss of 10%, with your average loss being 6-7%.
Research on the "disposition effect" shows investors typically sell winners too soon and keep losers too long. They're more likely to allow stocks to reach large losses than large gains, and more prone to buy additional shares of losing positions than winning ones. Most investors are too slow closing losing positions, depleting capital and wasting time. Avoiding large losses is the single most important factor for winning big as a speculator.
Every major correction begins as a minor reaction. You can't know if a 10% decline is the beginning of a 50% drop until too late. Even the best traders pick winning stocks only 60-70% of the time in healthy markets. You can be correct on just 50% of selections and still succeed magnificently-but only if you keep losses small. Every dollar saved is a dollar that can compound with your next winner.
No stock is truly "safe." Many so-called blue chip companies have suffered catastrophic declines. Coca-Cola dropped 70% in 1973 and took 11 years to recover. More recently, McDonald's fell 72%, AT&T dropped 80%, Cisco Systems plummeted 90%, and Lucent Technologies collapsed 99%. Even beloved companies face challenges that can decimate their stock prices. Some go to zero, like General Motors, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Enron, and WorldCom.
Before buying a stock, establish in advance a maximum stop loss-the price at which you'll exit if the position moves against you. When the price hits this level, sell without hesitation. Once the stock advances, raise the sell point to protect profits using a trailing stop.
Loss cutting isn't arbitrary but a function of expected gain. Your maximum stop loss depends on both your batting average (percentage of profitable trades) and your average profit per trade. A good rule of thumb is to cut losses at a level of one-half your average gain. For stocks with a 15% average gain, set stops at 7.5% below purchase price. However, Minervini recommends never allowing any stock to fall more than 10% before selling, regardless of your average gain.
Averaging down-throwing good money after bad-is one of the quickest paths to the poorhouse. Brokers often encourage clients to buy more shares of declining stocks to "lower their cost basis," but this only doubles your risk. High-growth stocks that fall after purchase become less attractive, not more attractive. The market is signaling that perception isn't going in your direction. Remember: only losers average losers.
When a stock rises to three times your initial risk, move your stop to at least breakeven. For example, if you buy at $50 with a $47.50 stop (risking $2.50), and the stock reaches $57.50, move your stop to $50. As the stock continues rising, look for opportunities to sell and secure profits.
Overly diversifying will prevent superperformance. During bear markets, almost all stocks decline. Spreading capital across too many positions makes it impossible to follow each company closely, reduces your ability to quickly reduce exposure when needed, and ensures only average results. Depending on portfolio size and risk tolerance, hold between 4-6 stocks, or up to 10-12 for larger portfolios.
10장
The Primary Base: Catching Tomorrow's Leaders Today
As a disciplined trader seeking maximum returns in minimal time, Minervini focuses on newly public entrepreneurial companies that exhibit both youth and character. Most superperformers go public within 8-10 years before their explosive growth phase. The primary base-a stock's first buyable base after going public-is a vital setup that has launched phenomenal advances in stocks like Yahoo!, eBay, Google, and Amazon.
The primary base is the first buyable consolidation after a company goes public. Typically, a new stock rallies on its IPO, then corrects as early investors take profits. A primary base forms during this corrective period (lasting three weeks or longer), followed by emergence to new highs. This pattern has deep roots in both technical action and fundamentals, as a company's biggest growth usually occurs in the first 5-10 years after going public when management is at its entrepreneurial best and newly raised capital fuels expansion. Eighty percent of tech boom winners in the 1990s were IPOs within the prior eight years.
Before buying a recent IPO, Minervini requires a minimum trading history-a primary base of at least three to five weeks with a correction of no more than 25-35%. Longer consolidations (around a year) can correct up to 50% and still be sound, while shorter three-week patterns should correct no more than 25%.
In 1997, Minervini couldn't convince anyone to buy Yahoo!, yet by 1999, after a tenfold increase, the same people refused to sell their late purchases. The perfect timing came when these unfamiliar stocks emerged from primary bases after a bear market, while most investors focused on the Asian crisis. He bought Yahoo! in July 1997 as it emerged from its primary base in the nascent Internet providers industry group, and watched it rocket 7,800% in 29 months.
Not every stock breaking out from a primary base becomes a winner. While proper primary bases offer some of the best odds to catch most of a big move, there's no guarantee. You must always have an exit plan to cut losses if a primary base fails. In January 2006, Minervini bought iRobot as it emerged from a primary base, but sold at a small loss when it couldn't rally and began selling off. This discipline saved him from the stock's eventual 65 percent collapse from $37 to just $7 per share.
Market leadership constantly changes. Circuit City exemplifies this principle-after soaring 63,000 percent from 1981-2000 and pioneering the big-box retail concept, the company made critical missteps that accumulated over time. By 2008, despite being the nation's second-largest electronics retailer, Circuit City was closing stores and cutting staff before eventually going bankrupt, with shareholders watching their investment go to zero. Beware of well-known "official growth stocks" that have already experienced their best earnings growth and are overowned. Instead, seek new market leaders forming primary bases, even if they're unfamiliar companies.
11장
The Path to Consistent Superperformance
Minervini's approach combines disciplined methodology with psychological mastery. His SEPA strategy identifies stocks with the highest probability of delivering extraordinary returns, while his risk management principles ensure preservation of capital during inevitable market downturns.
The journey begins with proper mindset-believing superperformance is possible while understanding it requires specialized knowledge and unwavering discipline. By breaking free from conventional wisdom and focusing on what actually works in the market, traders can position themselves to capture moves that most investors miss.
Successful trading combines technical and fundamental analysis. The four-stage framework helps identify stocks in optimal uptrends, while earnings acceleration and sales growth provide fundamental confirmation of a company's improving prospects. Chart reading skills, particularly recognizing volatility contraction patterns and proper pivot points, allow for precise entry with minimal risk.
Perhaps most importantly, risk management principles-cutting losses quickly, protecting profits, and building position size only after success-create the foundation for long-term survival and prosperity in the markets. As Minervini demonstrates through his own trading career, consistent application of these principles can transform even a small account into substantial wealth.
The market offers this opportunity to anyone willing to put in the work. As Minervini concludes: "You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great." In the stock market, you can make excuses or money, but not both. The best time to begin is right now.
