--- title: "Maintain discipline even more after consecutive profits." description: "In recent years, the U.S. stock market has ridden the tailwind of AI to stage a historically significant bull run. Over the three years from 2023 to 2025, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose for three con" type: "topic" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/38767221.md" published_at: "2026-02-18T01:47:14.000Z" author: "[爱妻的交易员](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/17289850)" --- # Maintain discipline even more after consecutive profits. In recent years, the US stock market has ridden the tailwind of AI to stage a historic bull run. Over the three years from 2023 to 2025, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose for three consecutive years: approximately +43% in 2023, +29% in 2024, and +20% in 2025. During the same period, the S&P 500 also rose for three consecutive years: price returns of approximately +26% in 2023, +25% in 2024, and +18% in 2025. At the individual stock level, it's even more exaggerated. Taking NVIDIA as an example: total returns over the past 5 years were approximately +1100% (about 12x); total returns over the past 10 years were approximately +27182% (about 270x). Such extreme returns have pushed the "AI wealth creation myth" to a height where it's easy to misjudge risk: you feel you're riding the trend; you might even feel you're in control. Yet, in the past year, we've seen many big players signaling "defense": Berkshire Hathaway's cash and equivalents reached a record high of approximately $381.7 billion, adopting a stance of "preferring to hold cash/short-term bonds rather than act rashly." Donald Trump's portfolio disclosures also revealed significant purchases of corporate and municipal bonds. The 83-year-old legendary investor Jim Rogers stated in multiple interviews that he has cleared his US stock holdings. Dan Bin has also repeatedly mentioned potential market volatility and pullbacks in 2026 in his public remarks (even though he remains long-term bullish on AI). Some billionaire investors are either holding cash or shifting to defense. These changes at least remind us of one thing: **After a long bull run, excellent investors, after a streak of profits, often become more conservative.** Because the most dangerous moment in trading is often not when you're losing money, but after you've been profitable for a while—that moment when you feel "the rhythm is right, the touch is there, the market is starting to listen." After a streak of profits, people usually undergo three changes: 1. Position size increases 2. Execution speed quickens 3. Stop-loss discipline loosens Because you start to believe: this time will be right too. This isn't logical judgment; it's emotional amplification. Have you experienced this: after a few smooth, profitable trades, you start adding to positions, start trying instruments you weren't comfortable with, even start trying to predict the market ahead of time? It's not because your system has upgraded. It's because profits have amplified your ambition, making you mistakenly think "I control the market." Truly excellent traders aren't those who make big money. They are those who, after making big money, still operate by their original rules. Profit is just a phase result; discipline is the long-term moat. Losses breed fear; profits breed arrogance. And the market specializes in punishing arrogance. Excellent investors codify "restraint" into executable discipline. Before placing each order, think carefully: 1. Which entry rule of my system does this trade fit? 2. Does the position size exceed the limit? 3. Where is the stop-loss? Am I willing to execute it immediately? 4. If this trade loses, will I immediately want to recoup the loss? 5. Am I placing this order now because of a signal, or because of emotion? Therefore, profit is not a license to become inflated. The market will never be gentle to you just because you made money on your last trade. True masters don't inflate when profitable. They contract when profitable. If you've just made a profitable trade recently, don't rush to get excited. First ask yourself: If the next trade is wrong, can I still bear it? Can I still not break my system? Remember: **Profit is the test; restraint is the answer.** ### Related Stocks - [.IXIC.US - NASDAQ Composite Index](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.IXIC.US.md) - [SPXU.US - Pro UltrPro Shrt S&Pro 500](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPXU.US.md) - [VOO.US - VG S&P 500](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/VOO.US.md) - [XYLD.US - Global X FDS S&P 500 Covered Call ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XYLD.US.md) - [.SPX.US - S&P 500](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.SPX.US.md) - [BRK.B.US - Berkshire Hathaway B](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BRK.B.US.md) - [BRK.A.US - Berkshire Hathaway](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/BRK.A.US.md) - [NVDA.US - NVIDIA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDA.US.md) - [SPDN.US - Direxion S&P 500 Bear 1X](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPDN.US.md) - [SPY.US - SPDR S&P 500](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPY.US.md) --- > **Disclaimer**: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.