The buy-and-hold approach to the stock market generally isn’t a celebrated strategy among Reddit’s “Wall Street Bets” bunch, but more than a few glasses are being raised for one member of the meme-making trading community who claims to have made an absolute killing in recent years.
IKnowTheCodings, as he goes by on Reddit, says his portfolio, which includes the occasional options play, has multiplied 20X since he got started about four years ago.
Here’s the screenshot of his account:
Of course, he wasn’t hailed as a hero by everyone. Not in this group. ”Making millions over 4 years isn’t what this forum is about, 1 week or nothing,” Paradox501 wrote.
Most, however, prodded him for some tips and insight, and he was happy to oblige, answering dozens of questions as his post continued to attract attention.
So what’s his secret?
“Only trade money you can afford to lose, watch the stock for a while before taking a position. Don’t chase, if it runs before you get a position you like, move on to something else. And don’t cut your winners too soon,” he told MarketWatch. “Nearly every lesson you think you’ve learned will be the wrong lesson to apply at some point in the future.”
He said that he usually focuses on a single position, sometimes as much as 90% of his portfolio will be concentrated on his conviction pick. At the moment, he’s “the most diversified” he’s ever been, with his portfolio split between AMD AMD,
It’s the latter of the two that he’s most excited about going forward.
“They have 18 months of liquidity. If cruises aren’t back by then there are a WHOLE lot of other businesses that will be going under in the meantime,” he said. “I’m planning to hold until at least 40 and think it could be a year to a year and a half. Other cruise/travel stocks probably good too but NCLH is my favorite. I’m considering moving some more from AMD over in the next couple months.”
If Norwegian hits his target, IKnowTheCodings said he will consider hanging it up. “I like my job [as a web developer],” he said. “I’d probably be more tempted at 4M.”
Assuming his trading tale is true, his push toward early retirement took a baby step forward on Wednesday, as shares of Norwegian rallied almost 5% amid a broader market advance.
