Legendary Trader Methodologies — Minervini, O'Neil, Weinstein, Livermore, Darvas & Wyckoff
Six mentors. Six playbooks
Every screener, score, and signal in Legend AI descends from one of these six published methodologies.
Mark Minervini's Methodology.
- Core Screen
- Trend Template
- Entry Pattern
- VCP
- Risk First
- Defined Stop
- Target Before Stop
- 20%
Minervini's published framework combines a strict trend template, relative strength, volatility contraction, precise pivots, and predefined downside risk. Legend AI translates those ideas into deterministic educational checks.
Key Rules- Stock must pass all 8 Trend Template criteria
- RS Rating ≥ 80 — only buy market leaders
- Buy exactly at the pivot / VCP pivot point
- Never average down — cut losses at 7–8%
- Risk no more than 1–2% of account per trade
- Only buy in confirmed uptrends (Stage 2)
- Institutional Footprint detection (VCP Vol Dry-up)
- Advanced Sector Confluence scoring
- Market Regime volatility gate integration
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Seek leadership in a confirmed uptrend, enter near a precise pivot, and define the loss before taking the trade.
Legend AI synthesis · not a quotationWilliam O'Neil's Methodology.
- IBD Founded
- 1984
- Core Factors
- 7
- Market Gate
- M
- Target Before Stop
- 24%
O'Neil developed CAN SLIM from research into historic market leaders and founded Investor's Daily in 1984. The framework combines earnings and sales growth, leadership, institutional demand, chart bases, and market direction.
Key Rules- C: Current quarterly EPS up 25%+ vs year ago
- A: Annual EPS growth 25%+ for 3 consecutive years
- N: New product, service, or management + New highs
- S: Supply — small/mid float with institutional demand
- L: Leader — RS Rating 80+ in top-performing industry
- I: Institutional sponsorship increasing each quarter
- M: Market in confirmed uptrend — follow the general market
- Institutional Sponsorship tracking
- Industry Group RS Leadership ranking
- Follow-Through Day (FTD) automated detection
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Combine fundamental leadership with constructive price-and-volume action, and respect the direction of the general market.
Legend AI synthesis · not a quotationJesse Livermore's Methodology.
- Own Manual
- 1940
- Entry Lens
- Pivotal Point
- Primary Input
- Price
Livermore's own 1940 trading manual centered on trends, pivotal points, timing, money management, and emotional control. Legend AI applies those concepts to observable breakouts and continuation behavior without recreating his voice.
Key Rules- Never trade against the line of least resistance
- Wait for the pivotal point — patience is the key
- Never average a losing position
- The big money is made in the big swings
- Sit tight once in a winning trade
- Markets are never wrong — opinions often are
- Line of Least Resistance trend scoring
- Pivotal Point volume confirmation
- Automated Tape Reading (Price/Volume Confluence)
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Wait for price to confirm the line of least resistance at a pivotal point, then manage the position rather than an opinion.
Legend AI synthesis · not a quotationStan Weinstein's Methodology.
- Key Book
- 1988
- Core Indicator
- 30-Week MA
- Buy Stage
- Stage 2 only
Weinstein's stage analysis divides every stock's lifecycle into four stages: basing (Stage 1), advancing (Stage 2), topping (Stage 3), and declining (Stage 4). The method uses price, volume, relative strength, and the 30-week moving average to distinguish bases, advancing trends, tops, and declines. Legend AI treats Stage 2 as a structural classification; volume is separate confirmation.
Key Rules- Only buy stocks breaking out of Stage 1 into Stage 2
- 30-week MA must be rising — never buy in downtrend
- Volume must expand on the breakout week
- Relative strength vs market must be strong
- Sell when stock enters Stage 3 topping area
- Never fight the sector — trade with sector momentum
- Weekly Stage 2 Transition alerts
- 30-Week MA Slope & Health scoring
- Relative Strength vs. SPY (Mansfield RS)
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Favor a Stage 2 advance above a rising 30-week average, with relative strength and breakout volume as corroborating evidence.
Legend AI synthesis · not a quotationNicolas Darvas's Methodology.
- Published Method
- Box System
- Entry
- Box Break
- Risk Control
- Stop Order
- Target Before Stop
- 24%
Darvas documented the box system in How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market. The method identifies a defined consolidation range, waits for an upside breakout with stronger volume, and protects the position with a stop.
Key Rules- Draw a box around the consolidation high and low
- Buy only when price breaks above the top of the box
- Volume must be high on the breakout
- Stop loss just below the bottom of the box
- Only buy stocks making new all-time or 52-week highs
- Never look back — let the stop manage the trade
- Automated Box Boundary detection
- Darvas-style New High screen
- Volume-weighted breakout confirmation
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Let the range define the setup: act only on a confirmed break above the box and keep the invalidation level explicit.
Legend AI synthesis · not a quotationRichard Wyckoff's Methodology.
- Era
- 1900s–30s
- Edge
- Tape Reading
- Key Signal
- Spring / SOS
- Target Before Stop
- 27%
Richard Wyckoff was one of the most influential figures in early 20th-century Wall Street. Through decades of tape reading, he distilled markets to their purest truth: the battle between supply and demand, orchestrated by the Composite Operator. His method reads price and volume to identify when smart money is accumulating or distributing — before the move happens.
Key Rules- The Composite Operator accumulates before markup — follow the smart money
- A Spring is a false break below support on low volume — the highest-conviction buy
- Sign of Strength (SOS): breakout above resistance on expanding volume confirms markup
- Last Point of Support (LPS): pullback after SOS on dry volume — ideal entry
- Effort vs. Result: big volume with little price movement signals absorption
- Never fight the tape — always trade in the direction of least resistance
- Supply/Demand Exhaustion detection
- Composite Operator Footprint tracking
- Accumulation/Distribution Phase automated tagging
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Read price and volume as evidence of supply and demand, then look for a successful test, spring, or sign of strength before acting.
Legend AI synthesis · not a quotation30-day methodology activity Ranked by detection count (30d)
A detection is one gatekeeper-passed pattern, counted once per ticker per session. The live badges above count something narrower — symbols clearing a mentor's full screen (score and RS thresholds included) in the newest scan alone.
| # | Legend | Detections | Avg score | Strongest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyckoff | 73 | 58.5 | PSX 83.5 |
| 2 | O'Neil | 61 | 74.1 | OGN 97.0 |
| 3 | Minervini | 40 | 68.5 | TECH 96.8 |
| 4 | Livermore | 19 | 71.7 | CPAY 84.8 |
| 5 | Darvas | 18 | 73.9 | OGN 97.4 |
| 6 | Weinstein | 5 | 75.0 | ZBRA 89.9 |
Last 30 days · 216 detections across all six