The Stock Market Made Me Almost 200 Billion VND in 2 Years: Overthinking with Complex Technical Analysis Doesn’t Work, Keeping it Simple Does.

In 2017, Jack Kellogg began trading stocks at the age of 19. At the time, he had no definite plans and felt anxious about his future.

It was then that Jack heard a friend talk about stock investing and began to educate himself on the topic. His goal was to be able to earn enough money to spend without relying too much on a full-time job.

Over the next five years, Jack had the opportunity to experience various types of markets, including the stock market crash of 2020. His takeaway from these experiences was to keep things simple and flexible.

“There’s an acronym, KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). I don’t need super-complex indicators to make money. I just use basic trend lines, look at support and resistance levels, and volume,” says Kellogg. “Overcomplicating things can actually hinder performance because you’re not trading based on the actual price trend.”

This approach allowed Jack to adapt his trading strategy even when the market was in a downtrend in 2022. According to BI, he made over $8 million in profits from day trading in 2020 and 2021, with his total earnings reaching $6.5 million.

Speaking to Insider, Jack acknowledged that 2022 wasn’t an easy year for investors. He noticed the market taking a turn for the worse in November and December, and by the beginning of the following year, he had lost $100,000.

“The volatile trend made me slow down and rethink my strategy,” he said.

When the stock market rebounded, Jack rode the wave and profited, but when the market enthusiasm waned, he switched to betting on popular stocks, which later earned him $60,000. Jack also traded a few small-cap stocks and made money from single trades, such as with Intelligent Living Application Group Inc., earning over $91,000.

Previously, Jack would often enter a buying position after a stock broke through its resistance level.

This strategy worked 60% to 80% of the time in 2021, but by 2023, his profit rate had dropped to around 10% to 20%. Jack then started monitoring the S&P 500 to assess whether the breakout point was a good time to increase his position.

In the past, Jack regularly read the news to understand why stock prices might rise or fall, but this approach didn’t seem to work during short-term price surges. As a result, he now focuses less on understanding why a stock’s price is moving. For him, the ideal time to trade is during the market’s first hour of trading, when volatility peaks.

However, not everyone has been as successful as Jack in profiting from the stock market over the years. Many amateur investors have paid a high price, losing their hard-earned savings. Those who put their faith in meme stocks like GameStop have suffered even more.

Anyone can fall victim to this, even financial experts. Michael, an accountant at a US company, withdrew $69,000 from his Vanguard retirement fund to buy GameStop stock at $230 per share, hoping to catch the bottom. Unfortunately, the stock continued to plummet in subsequent sessions, resulting in a loss of $42,000 for him.

“I saved that money for three and a half years. In a moment of weakness, I made things worse,” Michael said.

Similarly, Tori Barry used her savings to buy GameStop stock and AMC, a movie theater company, just before they peaked. She immediately lost £2,500.

“We’re not big investors. While we didn’t lose millions of pounds, that was our rent and utility bills. I don’t know how we’ll recover from this,” shared Tori Barry.

Kristine Licuanan was luckier. She quickly abandoned her plan to become a day trader after buying GameStop and AMC stocks, influenced by calls from Reddit users.

“I couldn’t handle the high volatility,” Licuanan shared, recalling how she constantly checked her phone to monitor stock prices. She decided to sell after a few hours, incurring a small loss.

The story of Alan Garcia, as highlighted by the WSJ, is another cautionary tale. Garcia started trading on Webull Financial LLC at the beginning of the pandemic, spending from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. managing his $2,000 investment portfolio. His obsession was such that he even clung to his phone to watch investment videos for two years.

“He was physically next to me, but he wasn’t really there,” complained Rodriguez, Alan Garcia’s wife.

By early 2022, Garcia had lost it all. When he finally regained his spirits, he felt relieved. He no longer had to stare at his computer screen all day, tracking market movements.

Sources: BI, WSJ