Trade Like a Stock Market Wizard: How to Achieve Super Performance in Stocks in Any Market: How to Achieve Superperformance in Stocks in Any Market

by Mark Minervini

WHAT DRIVES SUPERPERFORMANCE? The stock market cares little about the past, including the status of a company. What it cares about is the future, namely, growth. Keep in mind that our goal is to uncover superperformance stocks: shares that will far outpace the rest of the pack. These stocks are the ones with the strongest potential, and they seldom are found in the bargain bin. They are going strong because of a powerful force behind them: growth—real growth—in earnings and sales. Why buy damaged merchandise? If your goal is to achieve superperformance in stocks, each company must earn its place in your portfolio by being an outstanding business. Superperformance stocks show their strength through their ability to improve and grow earnings, sales, and margins. These powerhouse companies report quarterly results that are better than Wall Street anticipates, with upside surprises that propel the stock higher. Don’t become enamored with a stock selling down in price because it has a well-known name. Many winning stocks may be companies that you never heard of before. Their best days lie ahead, not in the past. Regardless of a company’s size, status, or reputation, there is no intelligent reason for an investor to settle for an inferior track record in a marketplace filled with companies with outstanding fundamentals. Each quarter, earnings and sales reports provide a refreshed set of statistics with new names, as those with poorer prospects are often replaced with those with ...