November 1954 to April 1955
The 1954-1955 Rayonier Hold-vs-Sell Decision
Nicolas Darvas bought Rayonier around 50 in November 1954. By the time it reached roughly 58.75, he sold to take a profit, then kept jumping back in and out of the stock over the following months. He later worked out that if he had simply held that original November purchase all the way to April 1955, when the stock reached 80, he would have made roughly double what his repeated in-and-out trading actually earned him.
Real price levels from this episode
- Bought around here, in November 1954 50
- Price where Darvas actually sold 58.75
- Where it traded by April 1955, had he held 80