In less than a year, Xiaomi's stock price has actually reached the 28 range. I no longer want to analyze the fundamentals; I just want to talk about life.

I. The Radiance of Humanity in the Most Painful and Extreme Environments

I believe no one wants to voluntarily experience pressure and pain. Just like many stories and movies, a lot of people's changes are often forced by circumstances. However, after such events occur, how to face them squarely is worth discussing. The most profound book in my memory about how to directly confront pain and view it transcendentally is Man's Search for Meaning, written by Frankl based on his experiences as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. People there couldn't even be called human; eating and sleeping were difficult, let alone owning property. Having a pack of cigarettes was an extreme luxury. In the early days of captivity, people could still talk about returning home for good food and looking forward to an early reunion. Later, the long-term, cold reality shattered everyone's illusions. The author discovered that surviving in such an extreme environment wasn't easy, but the prerequisite was first having a faith to live. Many people were not broken down by physiology, but by psychological collapse. Fortunately, the author was a psychiatrist. Having experienced such a brutal environment, he could view everything transcendentally and wrote that famous quote:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

II. The Descent is Longer Than the Ascent

Although it's much better compared to the extreme environment in the book, this is also the first time in my life experiencing such a large floating loss: 9 consecutive months of decline, a halved stock price. No one wants to go through this stage, and it's best not to reach this stage. But now that I'm here, fortunately, I have no leverage and am still alive, so it's worth recording the experience and feelings.

A floating loss definitely yields no returns, but continuous tracking is not without gains. When I first entered the stock market, I was very fragile, hoping the market could bring some returns. Back then, long-term staring at the screen was all about high-risk, flashy operations, and I was lucky to save up a little money. Now, the decline is deep and prolonged. I haven't made any profits, but I seem to have gained some clarity about life. Many big players say you can only learn by paying tuition, and there's truth to that.

What might feel closer to stock trading is a Souls-like game. After countless painful failures, when you finally conquer a level, you know it's not because the BOSS got weaker, nor is it because the game character's equipment and level improved significantly. The main reason is that you yourself have become stronger. There are two prerequisites: first, you have to stay alive; second, you need the courage to face difficulties directly.

A higher-level way of thinking might not be about fighting and defeating this or that. It's about the clarity of "sunshine on the ascent, rain on the descent; returning with neither wind nor rain nor sunshine." Only when the paper profits are good at that time, and my understanding of the stock market, companies, and investment has also become clear, will I deserve to hold this profit steadily.

III. The Maze and the Key of the Game

Of course, people who come to the stock market definitely aren't here to experience pain and train their mindset; more are here for investment gains.

The past is vividly before my eyes. I started averaging down when the stock price was just over 30, feeling elated and in a hurry, it soon reached 40. When I averaged down at 40, some said there would always be great scholars to debate the scriptures. The SU7 launch ignited the stock price's climb all the way. Back then, I watched the screen a lot. If I got trapped doing T+0 trades, it would lift me out in at most a week. It started moving sideways around 50. Some experts began to retreat, while others thought it would continue upward after the car production capacity ramped up. Everyone was quite optimistic back then. Many people researched how to buy bull warrants, and many thought it should break 60 and look at 80 by the end of the year.

Now the stock price is 28, far below the 30 expectation of the most pessimistic people back then, and far below my personal and even AI's calculations. Looking back now, the risk of speculators adding leverage to bet on gains is huge; if you can avoid adding leverage, try not to. Back then, those who added leverage were all wiped out without exception. But at the same time, the fundamental trend judged by the analytical big players was actually not wrong. Compared to back then when only the SU7 car manufacturing was just starting, it's a different world now. However, without exception, everything related to the stock price was wrong. This is not something that can be predicted in the short term.

Both speculators and analysts failed in the past. Trying to deduce, I estimate that new bottom-fishers might get margin calls due to the continuous decline, or cut losses under pressure without leverage, or lose patience and leave. In the end, only a few lucky ones will catch a wave of gains, but they are likely to lose profits due to the same actions. It seems like a maze hiding treasure. The vast majority come for the gains but end up wandering around and getting lost inside.

From an investment perspective, I guess the reason for getting lost is that in this current maze, people exhaust all means and return defeated because you can see the treasure's door but can't find the key. That's because the key to this door is hidden in the "compound interest" of time.

The strategy reflected in Xiaomi's recent financial report is compound interest thinking: sacrificing short-term interests to choose investments that bring sustainable growth and greater fundamentals in the long term. The reason I can hold the stock is also because I resonate with this. Coincidentally, I am also undergoing changes for some personal reasons. I've found that the most fragile times are often when you seem strongest, and when you seem weak, the accumulated strength and confidence are actually greater, bringing greater future possibilities. Compared to actions that yield immediate results in the short term, compound interest is a very counter-human behavior. Short-term positive feedback is very weak, but it is a decision with higher certainty that aligns with growth. Compared to the short-lived effects of a flash in the pan, compound growth is the real driving force behind the steady growth of many things.

Of course, living in the present cannot see nor believe in this magic and change. Only by firmly investing in living in the future can one see and experience it.

$XIAOMI-W(01810.HK)