Compare the Legends
Same market, 9 different playbooks. See where the methodologies agree — and where your temperament should pick your mentor.
Not sure where to start? Find your mentor — three questions.
A study-path suggestion based on your answers — educational only, not advice.
Compare two mentors
Tap a third to swap out the one you picked first.
Mark Minervini
The Precision Sniper
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William O'Neil
The Institutional Edge
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Jesse Livermore
The Original Tape Reader
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Stan Weinstein
The Stage Master
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Nicolas Darvas
The Self-Made Trader
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Richard Wyckoff
The Tape Reader
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Richard Dennis
The Mechanical Turtle
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Dan Zanger
The Volume Sniper
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Martin Zweig
The Screen Master
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| Core idea | Superperformance stocks tighten before they break out — his Specific Entry Point Analysis framework | CANSLIM — fundamentals + technicals + market direction together | Price follows the line of least resistance | Every stock cycles through 4 stages — only buy Stage 2 | Strong stocks climb in stacked price boxes | Smart money accumulates quietly before the markup | Trading can be fully mechanical: the rules trade, the trader does not | The breakout is only half the trade — the numbers are the rest | Growth at a reasonable price — the screen picks, the Super Model times |
| Buy trigger | Breakout from a VCP pivot after contractions tighten | Breakout past a cup/flat-base buy point on big volume | Break of a pivotal point in the trend's direction | Weekly close above a rising 30-week MA out of Stage 1 | Push above the box top at new 52-week highs | Spring or Sign of Strength out of accumulation | Breakout above the 20-day (S1) or 55-day (S2) channel high | Named-pattern breakout on 150-200% volume | A grower passing the screen: EPS growth above the market, PEG ≤ 1.5, insiders buying, RS leadership |
| Stop discipline | 7–8% absolute max — usually far tighter | 7–8% below the buy point, no exceptions | Out the moment the pivotal point fails | Below the 30-week MA or the breakout low | Just under the bottom of the current box | Below the spring low / last support | Always 2N (20-day ATR): set before entry, never moved | 2-3% below entry — sells on bad action first | Out when the growth story breaks — earnings deceleration or a PEG stretched past reason |
| Typical hold | Weeks to a few months — swing the strongest move | Months — ride the institutional campaign | As long as the trend runs — sit tight | Months to a year+ — the whole Stage 2 advance | Weeks to months — until a box floor breaks | The markup phase — exit into distribution | Weeks to months: until the 10-day or 20-day low exit fires | Days to weeks — banks 20-30% at +15-20%, trails the rest | Months — holds winners as long as earnings keep growing |
| Market filter | Only trades confirmed uptrends | M in CANSLIM — wait for a follow-through day | Trades with the broad tape, never against it | Market and sector must also be Stage 2 | New highs only happen in healthy markets | Reads the whole tape's accumulation/distribution | None: the system trades the signal in any liquid market | Only in a healthy market — no breakout buying into weakness | The Super Model: Fed direction + breadth momentum set exposure (computed on the symbol page from the site's breadth + Fed tables) |
| Fundamentals? | Yes — accelerating earnings & sales back the chart | Heavy — C, A, N are earnings and innovation | No — pure price and volume | Light — price/volume and sector strength lead | Techno-fundamental — a growth story plus the box | No — supply and demand are the only facts | No: price channel and volatility are the whole system | Light — CANSLIM-style leaders, but the chart decides | Heavy — the screen IS the fundamentals |
| Never does | Average down or hold laggards | Buy low-RS stocks or fight the market | Take tips or argue with the tape | Buy Stage 4 declines or guess at bottoms | Buy cheap stocks or second-guess his stops | Chase moves without cause built first | Improvise, predict, or skip a signal the system fires | Chase more than 5% past the pivot or trade on margin early | Pay any price for growth, or fight the Fed |
| Adding to winners | Concentrates in the few best names | Pyramids small after the breakout works | Adds at each confirming pivotal point | Adds on pullbacks to the rising 30-week MA | Adds as each new box forms higher | Adds at the Last Point of Support | Pyramids mechanically at 0.5N intervals, max 4 units | Scales OUT: sells 20-30% into strength at +15-20% | Holds while growth continues; sells half on a climax run |
| Best fit for | Precise swing traders who love risk control | Growth investors who enjoy research | Patient trend riders | Part-time traders on weekly charts | Rule followers who can't watch all day | Chart readers fascinated by volume | Systematic traders who want rules, not decisions | Breakout traders who want tighter risk than O'Neil | Fundamental-first investors who want growth without the growth premium |
| Scanner patterns | VCP Power Play Three Weeks Tight High Tight Flag | Cup & Handle Flat Base Pocket Pivot Recovery Base Double Bottom | Double Top MA Pullback Basing Rising Wedge 200-Day Reclaim Golden Cross | Darvas Box | Wyckoff Spring Wyckoff SOS Record Volume | Base Breakout | |||
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Summaries are drawn from each trader's published books and public methodology. Legend AI is not affiliated with or endorsed by any featured trader. Educational only — not investment advice.