[Mid-Year Review Post] Started investing in US stocks in November, with a 68% loss of principal.

First, the result: 90% of the losses came from QQQ 0DTE options, 10% from going all-in with full margin on Chinese concept stocks + single stocks; in terms of trading style, I was the platform's favorite user - ultra-short term, frequent intraday trading; I'm an impulsive gambler, I reflect, and I take full responsibility for my trading results.

Let my experience serve as a warning to everyone. Below is my detailed account of "human nature - desire, greed" ~

I'm a newbie, entered the market in November, and messed up with US stocks. I tried four strategies, was quite greedy, and experienced 0DTE options evaporating to zero in a minute.

1. US stock shares, the "Magnificent Seven," held them and could have made 3% but thought it was too little, switched to the second strategy.

2. Went all-in with principal, started using margin (200k) to go all-in on a single stock, ended up losing over 10k, later made it back, wasn't satisfied.

3. Started adding 2x leverage to shares, meme stocks, traded quite frequently; some stocks combined could make 10% in a day, but I bought too many, spread across n stocks, even with good exit points the profits were neutralized; felt it was pointless.

4. Started buying stock options, bought on the first day, two rose 100% the next day, didn't sell, three had 30-50% gains, but I didn't know how to trade options, learning as I went (searching on Douyin), then the third day started pulling back, later cut losses at a 40% loss;

5. Started 0DTE options, buying calls/puts was the same that day, started with small capital, made money for a week straight, mistakenly thought I had the skill, one day's profit was 5% of my full account value. Then one night, directly bought an amount several times larger than usual, bought $14,000 worth of options, went straight to zero, didn't follow stop-loss discipline, cut losses at a 30% loss; the next day, started following stop-loss discipline, lost both on long and short positions, over ten thousand gone; during that time, I saw too many people flaunting gains, hundreds of thousands of dollars in a minute, completely ignored capital, experience, and other objective conditions, I bear full responsibility.
To put it bluntly, the gains were too slow, the strategies I executed were increasingly high-risk, the first four strategies had some probability of making money, volatility could also be low, plus occasionally playing this lottery was fine; hindsight says I should have made the money first before switching strategies, people can only make limited money, strictly follow discipline, control position sizing; the focus should be on generating cash flow, principal has a hidden cost which is the time spent accumulating it.

Later, I chose to stop trading for 2 months.

April's motivational quote: When it comes to making money, we need to get rich slowly. The you in 20 years will definitely be earning over 20 times your current income. Actually, it's just distracting myself, psychological comfort.

My current strategy is buying 2027 calls (with hedging configured) + occasional lottery tickets + 20% cash (to buy on pullbacks); this is my logic, not suitable for anyone. I don't regret my own choices, I think it suits me. Now I focus more energy on generating cash flow, as long as the principal base grows, 3-5% annual returns can cover basic monthly expenses, at least I have the right to choose.

Finally, I hope Longbridge gets better and better, the atmosphere stays great, I wish everyone can protect 120% of their principal, stay healthy, and can do things they're interested in!!!

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