Screen

US stocks breaking out of a Darvas box to a new high

Nicolas Darvas, a professional dancer, made about $2 million in the stock market in the late 1950s by buying stocks that broke out of a “box” to new highs on rising volume. A box is a stretch where the price bounces between a ceiling and a floor; he bought when it pushed through the ceiling. This list finds US stocks doing that at a new 52-week high, after every close.

No stocks pass this screen as of Nov 9, 2026.

The exact criteria

The box method is Nicolas Darvas's, published in How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market (1960). It is a pattern you see on a chart, so no screen reproduces it exactly: the three checks below are its measurable parts, as we read them. Treat them as a shortlist to open charts from, not the pattern itself. It runs on US stocks priced at $5 or more and trading at least $1 million a day on average. Nicolas Darvas and the box method →

1.Closed at a new 52-week high, above the highest price of the 250 sessions before0 pass
2.Out of a tight box: the 10 sessions before today stayed within a 15% range0 pass
3.Volume at least 1.5 times its 50-day average540 pass

Each count is that rule applied on its own to the same set of stocks, so you can see which one is doing the work. The list below is the names that pass all of them.

Make this screen your own

Open it in the screener with these rules already set, then add a sector, a market-cap range or any other filter on top. With Pro you can save it as your own scan.

Open in the screener →

Nothing passes this screen today. That is information too: these filters are strict by design, and an empty list usually means the market is not offering this setup right now.

Other screens

US stocks in a Qullamaggie breakout setupUS stocks passing Qullamaggie's breakout scan: the top 2% by 1-, 3- or 6-month gain, now pausing in a tightening range. Updated after every close.US stocks with an episodic pivot in the last monthUS stocks that gapped up 10% or more on three times their usual volume and held it: the episodic pivot Stockbee and Qullamaggie trade. After every close.Momentum bursts: US stocks breaking out 4% todayUS stocks up 4% or more today on rising volume: Pradeep Bonde's (Stockbee) 4% breakout scan for momentum bursts, run after every close.US stocks passing CAN SLIM's measurable rulesUS stocks with quarterly earnings up 25% or more, near their highs and among the leaders: the measurable parts of William O'Neil's CAN SLIM, nightly.US stocks with a pocket pivot todayUS stocks in an uptrend that closed up today on volume above every down day of the last 10 sessions: Gil Morales and Chris Kacher's pocket pivot.

More:Full screener Sector rotation Market timing Stage screener

Questions

What is a Darvas box?

A price range a stock settles into after a rise: a ceiling it fails to get above and a floor it holds. Darvas drew the box from the highs and lows of the days after a new high, bought when price broke above the ceiling on rising volume, and set his stop just under the floor.

How did Darvas sell?

He never set a price target. As a stock climbed, it built new boxes, each higher than the last, and he raised his stop to just below the floor of the newest one. He sold when a stock fell through a floor, which kept losses small and let the big winners run.

When does the list update?

After every US close. The nightly run starts at around 5:30 pm ET.

End-of-day data for common stocks and ADRs on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, computed after each US close and dated to the trading session.

Stage 2 stocks by sector

US stocks in a confirmed uptrend (Stage 2, Weinstein’s advancing phase), grouped by sector and industry and ranked by setup score.

Stage2Stocks is not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. Everything here is for information and education, not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Data is end of day for US stocks on the NYSE, Nasdaq and NYSE American, recalculated after each close.