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Interview with RockStar Episode 1: 'I bet on Faraday Future Founder Jia Yueting.'

· 27 min read

01

Introduction

"As an investor, you must pay attention to your surroundings and feel the world with your heart. All investment opportunities come from your life."

Investment should not be just a game for a few financial elites. Everyone can participate in the changes in the world and express their value proposition through investment. RockFlow believes that investment is a very free thing. Everyone has their own investment philosophy, and there is no difference in investment methods. Whether white or black, as long as it can make money, it is a good cat.

We will interview 100 successful investors on the RockFlow platform to share their exciting investment stories and philosophies. They come from all over the world, including post-2000 college students, engineers, designers, and foreign trade practitioners. They are the kings of investment transactions, but also ordinary people in our lives.

Background introduction of this issue:

The guest of this podcast interview is Rocker Xiaowen, a Chinese software engineer living in the Netherlands with the RF username 香蕉的男人. He was one of the earliest RockFlow users and started using the product a few months after its launch. He started trading stocks after graduating from high school and has also explored the US stock market for several years. His investment ideas are very clear and sharp.

Recently, he has been deeply involved in the trading of meme stock FFIE. As early as March, he bought Faraday Future in batches and sold almost all of them at the high point in May, with a profit of over 50 times. In our communication with him, we found that the successful trading of FFIE this time was not solely based on luck. Taking this opportunity, RockFlow founder Vakee talked to him about his US stock investment philosophy and interesting stories.

The following is the text lite of this interview. The complete audio will be launched on podcast platforms such as Himalaya and Xiaoyu in the near future (you can search for RockFlow to follow, or send "Podcast" to the WeChat official account RockFlow Universe backend to obtain the official podcast QR code). Please stay tuned.

In addition, RockFlow has previously delved into the development history, current business status, and investment value of multiple high-quality US stock companies. Please click to view.

Investing is wandering between greed and fear

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Welcome our new top scorer - Xiaowen to join our program. Let me give you a brief self-introduction first?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: First of all, thank you for the invitation. I think this time Jia Yueting gave me a face and sent me a big red envelope. So I will take this opportunity to exchange investment concepts and experiences.

I have been engaged in investment for more than ten years, starting from graduating from high school in 2011. In the past few years, my main focus was on A-shares. In the past decade, I have tried Value Investment, swing trading, and betting on oversold stocks. As VK just said, there is no specific way to guarantee returns. Everyone has their own investment method, and I agree with this.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Do you remember how you first got involved in the US stock market?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I saw your app at that time. I used to be in the A-share market. As we all know, the A-share market is not friendly. At that time, I wanted to try more mature markets, such as European and US stocks. When I saw your platform, I opened an account to give it a try.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: What was the first US stock you bought?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: In my opinion, the first one is either TAL or Nio, I can't remember clearly. Anyway, it's a China Concepts Stock.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: What was the reason for buying it at the time?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: The reason I bought Nio at that time was because of new energy vehicles, and Tesla also rose sharply, so I bought a little bit of NIO to participate. The reason I bought Good Future was simply because I thought it was cheap, 5 yuan or 6 yuan. I saw that its K line was also very low, so I wanted to buy some to try it out. If I had it now, the return would have been twice as much.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: So why did you choose RockFlow? What aspects of the product impressed you the most at that time?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Mainly UI, I think it looks good. I prefer anime and think it suits my personality. Also, depositing money is very convenient. Because I am in the Netherlands, I have tried Dutch securities before. Their deposit method is very complicated and requires a lot of materials. Also, there are many varieties on their platform that I cannot trade.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Let's talk about the experience of Faraday Future FFIE this time?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: My return on Faraday Future this time was actually good, but according to my own standards, it was not too successful. Because I had some leverage in my own account, I was limited in making this investment at that time. If there were no other leverage, I would have taken a heavy hand because I thought the probability of winning this transaction was high at that time.

Why? First of all, to buy this company, I definitely need to know the personality of their boss, especially Jia Yueting, a famous Internet celebrity who is already a well-known deadbeat in China.

My starting point for buying it was that once this Listed Company delisted, he would never have a chance in his life. So I was convinced that he would try his best to prevent the company from delisting. So I bought it one after another at less than one cent. The first batch of goods I received should be 9 cents, and then I made up for it at 8 cents. Later, it fell all the way to 4 cents. Actually, I wanted to go all in and discussed this with my wife.

At that time, I told my wife that we could start all over again since we were all still young, right? We were not afraid. However, there happened to be a loan to be repaid in China at that time, so the money was not put in and only the funds in the US stock account were used. As a result, although the yield was high, the profit obtained was not particularly considerable.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: It sounds interesting to me. I have seen many people who have really made a lot of money in different ways, or people with high returns. Many times it is similar. For example, for the company Faraday, if Jia Yueting can achieve a goal he has to achieve with a small cost, he will definitely work hard. Another way is to judge the opponent's ideas, which often return to human nature.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: In investment, I think human nature plays a big role. Everyone is constantly wandering between greed and fear.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: If young people want to make big money, most of the time they need the courage to go all in. They can just go and make money, but this opportunity is a rare privilege you have when you are young.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I think there is a saying that is very true. If you rely on your body to make money, you should be honest. If you rely on your brain to make money, you should be flexible. If you rely on money to make money, you should be ruthless. Later, I looked back and realized that the successful investments I have experienced often did not generate significant profits, mainly due to personality factors.

All investment opportunities come from your life

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Speaking of which, when did you start paying attention to Faraday Future?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: At the beginning of this year, when I was just over one cent, I was thinking about this.

Before this, there was also an investment that I wanted to make but didn't actually trade. It was a pharmaceutical company in the US stock market, which also fell below one yuan. Later, it quickly rose from 0.9 yuan to 6 yuan. I was right about that investment, but didn't make a move. Then, when it came to Faraday, I made a move.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: You have some methods to track or monitor and look for such opportunities, right?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I mentioned that pharmaceutical company just now because of my interest in it. I have a friend who works there. He said that their company feels fine and everything is normal, but the company's stock price has been falling. After he said this, I said, Then you should bottom fishing. What are you waiting for?

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: That's true. Actually, you see, we make a lot of investments that are closely related to our lives. Making an investment definitely has some logic or information support.

This is also what we talked about at the beginning, that investment is a part of everyone's life. It's hard to completely copy someone else's methodology, such as many people spending a lot of money to learn technical indicators and fundamental analysis, which is difficult to learn because it's not your life. For example, what you just mentioned, I think it fits RockFlow's philosophy very well, and it's also the idea we have always wanted to convey to everyone.

Actually, all your investment opportunities come from your life, your friends, or your understanding of people like Mr. Jia.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, as an investor, you must pay attention to your surroundings and feel the world with your heart. Maybe one sentence from others can provide you with a good opportunity. Investment must have a keen intuition.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: We use investment to participate in world changes, and these things themselves are very close to life.

I previously interviewed a user who told me that when he bought Pinduoduo, the price dropped to 70 yuan. A friend introduced him to the Pinduoduo app, and he placed 40 orders in the first month. He thought the product was so good that he couldn't stop placing orders.

So his feeling was very direct. His first reaction was, Hey, this company is really good. Then I'll buy its stocks. I'm optimistic about its future development.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Well, I have such an example around me. I have a colleague who works in Canada. At that time, he resigned directly and invested all his money in NVIDIA. First of all, he loves games very much and originally worked in the ICT field. He thought that based on his understanding, there was no other company in the GPU market that could compare with NVIDIA, so he really resigned directly. This is a real example that happened around me. I was shocked at that time and especially admired his courage.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: It's true. When it comes to NVIDIA, many people who make chips and AI, whether they are practitioners, entrepreneurs or investors, should be able to deeply feel the energy of this company. I bought NVIDIA a long time ago and have been buying it ever since because I started with AI product R & D and later made early investments in the AI direction. Now I am also starting a business as an AI native trading platform. I think people in the industry must have a deep understanding of the existence of NVIDIA.

I think the most direct way is to fully invest in NVIDIA even if you don't do anything in recent years. If you combine stocks and options, it is definitely the highest ROI investment method. All opportunities are in your life, the companies you are most familiar with, and then optimize some of your specific transactions, think clearly about when to buy and when to sell, and that's it.

Investment often goes against human nature, so mentality is very important

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Let's talk about Faraday Future. This issue has actually become popular with the recent wave of Reddit, such as meme stocks like GME and AMC. I don't know if you are also paying attention?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I have some understanding because retail investors are indeed very enthusiastic. However, I am not very familiar with these companies. Although I have heard their stories before, I do not know enough about them, so I generally do not touch them.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: So it's because you're familiar with Faraday, not because you saw it become a meme stock. You mainly participated because of Boss Jia.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes. The starting point of this logic is that I think Boss Jia has nothing left to lose, he definitely wants to cause trouble. And the key is that he is already a very good troublemaker.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: That's right, he creates dreams for everyone, hahaha. So what were your specific considerations at that time? When buying Faraday Future, did you buy it bit by bit or just go all in?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: At first, I bought half of my position in Faraday Future and the other half in Tuniu. As for Tuniu, I bought it for about 70 cents. At that time, it rose a little, maybe about ten points. Then Faraday Future fell a little, so I sold Tuniu and bought Ferrari Future. Later, it was equivalent to buying all of Faraday Future.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: When was that? What was the approximate price?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: About 8-9 cents when adding positions. In March.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: This is really impressive. Around May 13th, the stock became very hot. Did you sell at the highest point on the 15th or 16th?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I sold it for 3 yuan, around 3 yuan and 4 yuan.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Almost there, very high. I remember the highest point was probably 3.9 yuan, but it was very short-lived.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, close to 3.9 yuan, around 3.85 yuan. At that time, Reddit and Telegram all said it would be 5 or even 10 yuan. I thought I had earned enough, so I sold it.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Are they all sold?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Sold almost all of them, there are still 600 shares in it. Let him do as he pleases with those 600 shares, hahaha.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: I think the ideas you just talked about are very mature. Including your mention of "earning enough", I think this is very important and I have been sharing it with everyone. Since I was young, my mother has always told me, "earning less is never a loss".

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, after investing for so many years, the most painful thing for me is missing out and drawdown. I had a strategy before, which was day trading, intraday trading. I set a standard for myself every day to earn two points and then run away. For a period of time, it was very smooth, earning two points every day, and maybe earning 60%. At that time, I earned 80,000 with about 50,000 yuan, but later I couldn't control the drawdown and encountered a big mistake. I didn't stop loss in time. I lost the money I earned all at once, and that impression was very deep.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: After that, you changed some strategies, didn't you?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: After that incident, did you reflect on why you didn't cut your losses? At that time, I was too optimistic and couldn't overcome some problems in human nature.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Will you also place some stop-loss and take-profit orders when you place an order now?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Now I know how to set stop loss and take profit based on my own feelings. By the way, when my rhythm was disrupted, there was another reason. I was trading A-shares at that time because the morning trading of A-shares was actually in the early morning of Europe. I didn't get up at that time. The day before, I traded at 2% because my target was 2%.

Then I bought a stock in the growth enterprises market that day, and it rose by 20% directly because I hung it at 2%, which means I only got a very small increase. At that time, I was reflecting on whether I was too rigid. Why did I have to hang it at 2% for such a trending stock? And that's not all. It has been limit up for three consecutive days, and the growth enterprises market stock has been limit up for three consecutive days, which means I lost 70% of my profit at that time.

It was that incident that disrupted my entire rhythm. I didn't expect the impact it would have on me later, which led to my subsequent losses.

Including Jia Yueting this time, I'm going all in, and it's great now. As a more mature investor, I still need to overcome this mentality. I think mentality is really important.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: The core of investment is still to stop loss, learn to stop loss first.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, once you feel you are wrong, don't hesitate. A friend of mine taught me a concept that I think is quite practical. But I haven't practiced it very well yet, so he said, if you feel you are wrong, you should stop loss immediately. But many retail investors, including myself, may still have this feeling now, thinking that selling at a loss is really losing money.

But he said, actually it's not like that. For example, if you invest 100 yuan and lose only 90 yuan, if you cut your losses in time, it's like starting a new business with 90 yuan. Don't think about how much money you lost, but stand in the present and choose which business you think will bring greater profits in the future.

I think his idea is particularly good. It may help some retail investors or investors like me overcome the mentality of being reluctant to stop loss.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Absolutely right, the loss has already occurred. From this point in time, do you want to continue investing money? If you continue to hold this vote, there are still better opportunities in B, C, and D. If you persist here, you may not come back and may miss other opportunities.

Looking for arbitrage space, the market and opportunities will never disappear

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Are you familiar with the previous GME retail investor war on Wall Street?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I've heard of them, they're really amazing. GME seems to have increased by 190 times at that time, even more impressive than Ferrari Future this time.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Did you participate in that one?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Not really, but later I bought AMC. AMC is also quite interesting, going up and down like counterfeit products stocks. In other words, it's a game driven by funds. As an investor or retail investor, you need to learn to feel the flow of funds, which is also a difficult point in investment.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: That's right, you just mentioned the method of judging Faraday Future and my friend's biopharmaceutical company, which is also a method I personally like. I also look at some companies whose fundamentals have not changed, but whose stock prices suddenly have a large pullback. Indeed, these are all good opportunities. Besides the two methods mentioned earlier, do you have any other stock selection ideas?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: My current trading philosophy, and another one, is that whether it's the stock market or the commodity market, anything has a price, and with a price, there will be a price difference, and there will definitely be arbitrage space. It depends on whether you have enough understanding of this thing.

Taking myself as an example, I like Lego, so I will learn about this market, understand various players, including each of its products, whether they are popular among players? What is the demand, and what was the price when it was released? What is the current price?

Last year, in the second half of the year, I joked with my friend that it was difficult to do business in China. I said, Don't do any business. If you have any spare money now, just stock up on the Lego Dragon Year limited edition. This thing will definitely rise during the Spring Festival. As expected, at that time, the price of that thing was 600 yuan per set on Dewu. By the end of the year, it started to rise, and now it has risen to more than 800 yuan. Simply put, there is a profit of more than 30%, which is quite considerable.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: This is also very impressive. In fact, it is just some good thinking methods or methodologies at the bottom, which can be used in various aspects of investment and life.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, investment. To put it nicely, it's investment. To put it down-to-earth, it's making money. If there's anything that can be arbitraged, let's just do it.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: The viewpoint that I have always believed in is that regardless of whether the cat is white or black, as long as it makes money, it is a good cat.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Including now when everyone says that the domestic economy is sluggish, many young people complain about low income from work. I have observed a phenomenon that these people do not save money at all. If they do not have a family background, their first pot of gold can only rely on working or finding ways to start a business. Only when you have saved enough money can you invest and increase your assets.

But many people actually don't do these things. They complain about not having enough money or being under a lot of pressure. I think the solution is simple, just go to work honestly. If there is no other way, save money. At the same time, cultivate your own vision and feel the world around you. So many things have prices, markets, and opportunities every day, and they will never disappear.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Everyone can invest in his Pinduoduo, his Faraday Future. This is what I find very interesting. Investing is quite personalized.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, for example, if Jia Yueting is really sensitive to the market or cares about these things in daily life, even if he doesn't have money, he should have 10,000 yuan, right? Take 10,000 yuan and take a chance when he has 4 cents, and leave with more than 3 yuan. That's not a small amount.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: It's almost a hundred times. Ten thousand yuan may be spent on playing, eating and drinking quickly. What if it becomes a hundred times? That's 1 million, young people may not earn it after working for many years.

I think we need to find investment methods with high ROI in our own lives. Observe familiar companies, wait for that opportunity, and then match a suitable trading strategy to achieve it.

Speaking of which, why is it recommended for young people to participate in this matter as early as possible? Of course, there are various factors such as luck, but personal experience is necessary. I have always believed that since tuition fees have to be paid, it is better to pay as early as possible.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Everyone has gone through this. No one can overcome human nature from the beginning.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: The core of an excellent investor is the ability to learn from their imperfect or incorrect actions, which is very important. If a person keeps falling into the same pit, it's really impossible to save them.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: There are also many unforgettable things in my own trading experience, and I have paid some tuition fees in A-shares. But this is part of the experience, and I think it is very valuable. In these processes, you can gain a lot of knowledge, constantly iterate and optimize. You can also read books and buy courses at home every day, learn how to do technical analysis and how to analyze financial reports, but these are not as important as trading and trying new things. The important thing is to participate in this matter.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: I have another point of view, that is, there is only one true digital nomad in the world, which is to do secondary market transactions. Only secondary market transactions do not need to rely on others.

Feel the pulse of the world anytime, anywhere

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Besides small-cap stocks like Faraday Future and Tuniu that you mentioned earlier, have you considered buying giant companies like NVIDIA and Tesla in the US stock market?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I have no intention of buying a Tesla. My wife works at Tesla and she is very unhappy. I think if this company makes its employees unhappy, there may be some problems with it. So I have never bought one.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Regardless of the outcome, these feelings and observations are real. This is actually "investment is a part of life". Don't think that investment is far from your life.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: I won't buy NVIDIA now. I just think it's a bit expensive. Although NVIDIA is leading in GPU now, ICT is changing rapidly, and AMD is also catching up with Huawei. So it's hard to say what the future holds.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Understood, I understand that you believe these are not your most familiar areas. So you still hope to spend time on more familiar assets, right? I think this is a very responsible investment attitude. Also, there is a small question, do you generally trade US stocks for short-term operations? Or do you have some long-term positions?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: There will also be long-term, but I have had painful experiences holding stocks for a long time. I held a stock for 6 years before, can you imagine? In the end, I made 1000 yuan. Later, I changed my mindset. When I reach a certain ROI, I must leave, not like before. Overall, it is not directly related to the size of the company's market value.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Yes, I can totally understand your investment strategy. Whether it's a meme stock like Faraday Future or a big company, there's actually no difference. In your opinion, the discipline is the same - sell when you feel it's appropriate, and cut when you reach the stop-loss line.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, and then it's about combining with the trend. For example, this time with Faraday Future, my wife thought my operation was pretty good and waited for it to explode for almost a week because she knew I used to make 20-30 points and then run away. I thought, one is that I think its stock price is really low, too cheap, and it can still rise; the other is that I feel its trend has not broken, and it has come to more than 3 yuan. At this point, I feel it's time to stop. This is the whole process of my heart.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: So let's make some trend judgments.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, you can continue to hold as long as the trend is not over. Of course, it is very difficult to accurately bottom fishing and escape the top, and maybe no one can judge. But it is meaningful to roughly judge when the trend will turn.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: OK. The last interesting question, do you think luck or technology is more important for ordinary retail investors in investment?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: From my perspective, luck is definitely important. If I could buy every day with my eyes closed and it would increase by 10%, then why bother researching so much? However, we still need to understand the technical aspects. I think luck is offense, and technique is defense. As we just talked about, you can't think of entering the market only when you are at the top of the mountain, right? This is the simplest example of technique.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: I couldn't agree more. Being on the right track is for defense, and being talented is for offense. If you want to make big money, that opportunity must be blessed by luck. It's hard to analyze it with your skills or research.

Overall, to find investment opportunities that you can perceive around you, you may have talent, but many things still require a sense of touch. How to obtain a sense of touch still requires participation and personal experience. The threshold for the US stock market is actually very low, and it is a game with transparent and open rules, and all participants are equal. All customer funds are also held in the bank.

Finally, let's summarize briefly. Is there anything else you want to say to RockFlow users and share with everyone?

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: As the old saying goes, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, especially in investment. Everyone has different strategies and methods, but only by practicing can you summarize the most suitable method for yourself.

Therefore, it is important to participate, control risks, and find methods that you are accustomed to and enjoy.

I think investing in this game is the fairest and most interesting.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Yes, fun, fair, and you don't have to ask for help.

RockFlow expert - 香蕉的男人: Yes, and to put it more advanced, you can feel the pulse of the world anytime and anywhere, right? Including geopolitics, technological innovation, and the development of various industries, it will be reflected to a certain extent in Capital Markets.

RockFlow CEO - Vakee: Actually, we often say a slogan called Participate in the world's changes through investment.

About the Host & Guest

Host: Vakee, Founder of RockFlow, former quantitative derivatives trader in London, ex-AI investor, Baidu Phoenix Nest product manager, AI enthusiast obsessed with trading and thinking, passionate about mathematics and philosophy, and a solitary entrepreneur.

Guest: Rocker Xiaowen, RF Nickname - 香蕉的男人, a Chinese software engineer living in the Netherlands, a seasoned RockFlow user with decades of stock trading experience.

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