After 3 Years in Stocks, I Tallied Up My Losses (Self-Reflection)
Since it's anonymous, I'll be honest. Over 3 years, I'm down a total of -23 million won. If I learned something in that time, fine; if not, I just blew money, whatever.
At first, I started with theme stocks. Batteries, quantum computers, AI... I'd buy when news came out and get stuck holding the bag the next day. I repeated this. After taking a -30% hit on one stock, I'd buy another theme stock to recover mentally. A perfect vicious cycle.
There was a brief period when I was in profit. When I'd made about 5 million won, I thought, "I might actually have a talent," and bet bigger. That was the beginning of the end. Within a month, I gave it all back and went straight into the red.
Now I've liquidated everything and am only buying index ETFs through regular dollar-cost averaging. I don't look at the screen and only check in once a month. I've finally realized that this is the approach that suits my level.
If there's anyone out there like me starting with theme stocks, I'd tell you to try it with a small amount for just six months. I basically bought those six months with money.
9 answers
Agreed, I also started out with theme stocks and wasted 3 years lol. It doesn’t feel like someone else’s story.
Dollar-cost averaging into index ETFs really is the answer. The problem is that it took 23 million won to realize that...
Well, I don’t think it’s quite fair to blame the -23 million won loss on theme stocks. Even with the same theme stock, people who stick to their stop-loss line and manage position sizing survive. If you buy when the news hits and get stuck holding the bag the next day, isn’t that less about the stock and more about not having any trading rules? You even wrote at the end, 'a style that fits my level,' and that’s the real lesson—not that theme stocks are bad.