How Clement Ang Achieved 150%+ Returns in the US Investing Championship

Key Concepts

• Risk Management & Capital Preservation: Prioritizing the protection of trading capital above all else, implementing strict drawdown limits, and utilizing progressive exposure.
• Psychological Discipline & Mindset: The critical role of emotional control, perseverance, learning from mistakes, and trusting a systematic process in navigating the challenges of trading.
• Systematic Trading Approach: Developing and adhering to a well-defined trading plan, combining elements of trend following, volatility contraction, and price cycle analysis.
• Technical Analysis & Pattern Recognition: Identifying high-probability setups using indicators like moving averages, volume confirmation, VCPs, and undercut and rally patterns.
• Market Awareness & Adaptability: Understanding the current market environment, identifying dominant themes, and adjusting strategies to changing conditions.
• Progressive Exposure: Gradually increasing position size as confidence and success grow, and reducing it during losing streaks.
• Support System: The importance of a network of mentors and peers for guidance and emotional support.

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Clement A's Trading Journey: From Novice to Disciplined Trader

Early Trading Journey & Foundational Principles

Clement A's trading journey began with a $200,000 gift from his mother, which he rapidly grew to $1 million during the strong bull market of late 2019-2021. He acknowledges this early success was largely due to market conditions, describing it as "unconscious incompetence" due to a lack of a solid trading foundation. His initial approach focused on trend following, identifying stocks consolidating on low volume and anticipating breakouts with volume confirmation. Early trades like S'more (Hong Kong stock) and NEO (US stock, based on a friend's tip) highlighted his reliance on chart patterns without understanding fundamental drivers or the dangers of unqualified advice.

He was heavily influenced by trading literature, particularly How to Make Money in Stocks by William O’Neal, Trader Vic by Victor Sperandeo, and The Universal Tactics of Successful Trend Trading. These books instilled in him a strict hierarchy for his trading philosophy: 1) Preservation of Capital, 2) Consistent Profitability, and 3) Pursuit of Superior Returns. He initially believed in the efficient market hypothesis but was convinced otherwise by the statistical evidence in The Universal Tactics of Successful Trend Trading.

A significant turning point came in 2022 when a series of poor trades, including a large position in Baba (Alibaba) against the trend and overtrading short positions, led to a 60-70% drawdown of his account. This experience, which included painful shorting of Tesla, underscored the critical importance of risk management, emotional control, and adhering to a defined system. He credits Christian Flanders with the advice to cut position size during losing streaks, a principle he adopted in rebuilding his approach.

The Evolution of a Trading Philosophy

Clement's trading style evolved into a hybrid approach, blending methodologies from Mark Minervini, Gil Morales, Oliver Kell, and Jess. He emphasizes a shift from aggressive, "boom and bust" trading, often driven by greed and a desire for rapid profits, to a more controlled and patient approach. He adopted Oliver Kell's mantra, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast," recognizing that a trading year comprises 252 sessions and that consistent, long-term equity curve development is paramount over immediate returns. This shift involved becoming more "mellowed out" and "processor-oriented," letting go of ego and focusing on objective analysis rather than forcing the market to conform to his expectations.

Risk Management: The Cornerstone of Success

Risk management is the defining factor separating consistently profitable traders from those experiencing boom-and-bust cycles. Clement's philosophy strictly adheres to the hierarchy of preserving capital first, then achieving consistent profitability, and finally pursuing superior returns with a built-up cushion.

His risk management framework includes:

• Position Sizing: Initially risking 0.5-1% of equity per trade, he reduced this to 0.3-0.5% due to stress, aiming for 1% on high-conviction setups. He practices "progressive exposure," starting with small position sizes and gradually increasing them as trades prove successful, while reducing size during losing streaks (down to 0.25% of equity).
• Drawdown Limits: A crucial 5% monthly drawdown cap is implemented to prevent significant losses and protect capital.
• Stop-Loss Placement: Typically places stops at the low of the day for long trades and against the entry for short trades, adjusting stops to breakeven as trades move favorably.
• Selling Rules: Takes partial profits at 2x the stock’s Average Daily Range (ADR) and 8-10x the Average True Range (ATR) from the 50-day moving average, selling into weakness when possible.
• Post-Trade Analysis: Regularly reviews trades (weekly and monthly) to identify mistakes, successes, and missed opportunities, tagging trades to categorize performance. He also performs a "loss adjustment exercise" to calculate potential returns by capping monthly losses.

Trading Strategies & Technical Analysis

Clement's strategies are built on identifying specific setups and confirming them with technical indicators:

• Long Setups: Primarily look for volatility contraction patterns (VCP) within an Oliver Kell price cycle – a wedge pop above the 10 and 20-day exponential moving averages (EMA), followed by a check back to the moving average and a basing pattern. He also utilizes undercut and rally (UNR) patterns. Volume confirmation is crucial for breakouts.
• Short Setups: Focus on late-stage failed bases, specifically looking for stocks violating the 20-day EMA with wedging price action on low volume, heavily influenced by Gil Morales’ methodology.
• Key Technical Indicators: He frequently references the 10-day, 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMA) and EMAs, Average True Range (ATR), Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP), MACD, Pocket Pivots, and Relative Strength (RS).
• Thematic Trading: Emphasizes identifying dominant market themes (e.g., digital asset reserve plans, strategic minerals, AI) and focusing on stocks within those themes.
• Market Environment Assessment: Analyzes the balance of long and short setups to determine overall market bias and adapts to choppy conditions by focusing on opportunistic trades.
• Watchlist Management: Categorizes stocks based on their setup status (ready, consolidating, extended, breaking down).

Psychological Discipline & Mindset

Clement stresses that trading is as much psychological as it is technical. He draws parallels between athletic training (specifically Kobe Bryant's rigorous 5 am workouts and "form shooting") and trading, highlighting the importance of mental fortitude, continuous growth, and trusting the process. He notes that even elite athletes don't have a 100% success rate (basketball batting average ~40%), mirroring the expected 30-40% win rate in swing trading.

Key psychological aspects include:

• Emotional Control: Acknowledging that emotional trading leads to mistakes, and that "when you make one trading mistake, it doesn't usually end there because it domino effects into a series of trading mistakes."
• Avoiding Greed: Identifying greed as the primary driver of the "boom and bust" cycle, leading to reckless trading.
• Learning from Mistakes: Regularly analyzing losing trades to identify weaknesses and improve the trading process, performing mental resets after losses.
• Patience: Avoiding trades when no "fat pitch" exists and recognizing the dangers of "stock envy" or chasing missed moves.
• Burnout Awareness: Recognizing the impact of emotions like greed, fear, and burnout on trading decisions. He notes that "the losers actually hit us psychologically much larger than our winners."

Key Trades & Market Adaptations

Clement's journey includes numerous specific trades that illustrate his evolving strategies and lessons learned:

• 2025 US Investing Championship: Achieved a return of over 150% in the million-dollar money manager division, with 1,294 trades, a 30% win rate, an average gain of 5.4%, and an average loss of 2.1%. Approximately 70-80% of his profits came from long trades. He experienced significant stress during Q1 2025 due to market volatility and transitioning to full-time trading.
• Specific 2025 Trades: Detailed analysis of trades like Nvidia (short), GEV (long), CRNC (long), Silver (short), Billy Billy (long), and Baba (long/short) demonstrated the application of his rules.
• February-September Trading Year:
  • Long BABA Mistake: A losing trade due to "stock envy" and anticipating breakouts without a high-quality setup, highlighting a low expected value (EV) environment.
  • "Liberation Day": Capitalized on a significant market reversal with a mean reversion trade using TQQQ and SOXL, risking 20% of his account on TQQQ with a 10% drawdown limit. He later made a mistake by shifting too aggressively to a bullish bias, missing shorting opportunities.
  • Ethereum (ETH): A highly profitable "year's winner" trade, entered multiple times, capitalizing on relative strength, group strength (Bitcoin), extreme short interest (Commitment of Traders report), drying volume before breakout, and pocket pivot volume signatures. He used 0.5-1% risk per trade, scaling into strength, and utilizing trailing stops.
  • August Choppiness: Adapted by focusing on opportunistic shorts (Roblox, SQQQ) while maintaining core long positions (Ethereum).
  • September Momentum: Successfully traded ORBS (formerly EPAM), capitalizing on a momentum shift driven by positive news regarding cryptocurrency reserves.
• 2023-Early 2024 Performance:
  • Profitable Ethereum and related plays following Jackson Hole.
  • ORBS (now ORBS): A "five-star EP" (early play) based on a board appointment, yielding over 100% return on a 10% account allocation.
  • Gold: A successful trade based on a VCP on the weekly chart, though he regretted prematurely selling profits.
  • Oracle: A failed trade due to aggressive entry and stop-loss management, illustrating the dangers of chasing momentum.
  • Silver (AGQ): A profitable trade timed with an undercut and rally of the 20-day EMA.
  • Tesla: A problematic trade involving panic selling and subsequent re-entry without a clear setup, resulting in losses.
  • He acknowledged missing significant winners like BE Iron and MP in 2025 but still achieved a profitable year through a few key successes.
• 2024 Competition: His aggressive trading approach in the 2024 competition, driven by a desire to compete with top traders, exemplified the "boom and bust" cycle.

The Importance of a Support System

Clement emphasizes that trading is not a solitary journey and highlights the crucial role of a supportive network. His wife, fellow traders (Christian, Anthony Shei, Paul, Martin, Jay Lal), and the Trader Lion community (Richard, Ariel Nick, Shake) have been instrumental in helping him navigate the emotional toll of drawdowns and the challenges of trading.

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Conclusion

Clement A's journey is a testament to the transformative power of discipline, continuous learning, and emotional resilience in trading. From an initial period of "unconscious incompetence" and significant drawdowns, he rebuilt his approach by prioritizing capital preservation, adopting a systematic hybrid trading style, and mastering psychological control. His detailed analysis of specific trades and market conditions underscores the importance of adapting strategies, adhering to strict risk management rules like the 5% monthly drawdown cap and progressive exposure, and learning from every mistake. Ultimately, his success in the 2025 US Investing Championship and consistent profitability are a result of his unwavering commitment to process, patience, and the invaluable support of his trading community.