+969% Return in 1 Year: The Winning Pullback Strategy of a Trading Champion

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Jan 31, 2026

Martin Luk, 2025 US Investing Championship top performer and swing trader, built a pullback-focused, tight-stop system that turned a small account into huge gains. He discusses shifting from breakouts to first-pullback entries, anchored VWAP and EMAs as core tools, and how strict stops, position sizing, and real trade post-mortems shaped his dramatic run and painful drawdowns.

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ANECDOTE

Early Triple-Up Then Painful 50% Drawdown

Martin started trading in October 2020 with about $1,300 and tripled his account in four months during a bull market run.
He then suffered a nearly 50% drawdown in 2021 that taught him risk management and stop-loss discipline.

INSIGHT

Why Pullbacks Replaced Pure Breakouts

Martin shifted from breakout-first to adding pullback entries because breakouts were getting shaken out more often.
Pullbacks offered earlier entries, tighter stops, and improved risk/reward when aligned with rising EMAs and anchored VWAP.

ADVICE

Size Positions By Tight Stops

Use very tight stops (often under 2.5%, commonly 1.5%) to multiply R returns and limit losses.
Calculate position size from stop width so risking ~0.5% equity per trade yields large portfolio exposures on winners.

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📈 Sign up today at https://public.com/traderlion and earn a 1% uncapped match when you transfer your investments.📚 Order The Trader's Handbook Here: https://go.traderlion.com/uilGP📘 Get your FREE 115-page Ultimate Trading Guide: https://go.traderlion.com/uihtc🔍 Next-Generation Stock Screener: https://go.traderlion.com/uihtjMartin Luk is the champion 2025 US Investing Championship with an extraordinary return of 969%. In this episode, he goes deep into his pullback-focused trading system, breaking down dozens of real trades from the past year and sharing the exact tools, entries, and risk management rules that powered his nearly 10x performance.Martin's journey began in October 2020 with just $1,300 (around 10,000 Hong Kong dollars). He tripled his account in the first four months during the easy "free money" market, only to suffer a devastating 50% drawdown in 2021 through death by a thousand cuts. That painful period—five or six consecutive red months—taught him lessons about risk management that still shape his approach today. After discovering Christian Qullamaggie’s teachings and developing strict stop-loss habits from Mark Minervini's books, Martin finally broke through with a founder trade in June 2023 that pushed his equity curve to new highs after two and a half years of grinding.This year, Martin made a critical evolution in his strategy: shifting from pure breakout trading to incorporating pullback entries. He explains why breakouts have become less reliable, how he uses anchored VWAP as a key tool for identifying support and resistance, and why buying the first pullback to rising EMAs offers tighter risk and better reward potential. He also candidly breaks down his December disaster—a 26% drawdown caused by overtrading, flipping between longs and shorts, and taking setups that violated his own rules.🔥 What You'll Learn:✅ The mathematical advantage of tight stops: how cutting your stop from 3% to 1.5% can turn a 15R trade into a 25R winner✅ How to use anchored VWAP for pullback entries—with real examples on NVIDIA, Tesla, and the quantum computing names✅ Why the first pullback within a base offers the best risk/reward versus later pullbacks✅ Position sizing secrets: risking 0.5% per trade while running up to 280% margin exposure✅ The December post-mortem: 46% of trades were avoidable mistakes and how to prevent behavioral slippage✅ Why weekly charts matter: using the bigger picture to filter trades and avoid shorting into strengthWhether you're struggling with breakout failures or looking to add pullback entries to your toolkit, Martin's detailed trade reviews and honest assessment of his mistakes provide a masterclass in systematic improvement.Enjoy!- The TraderLion TeamPublic Sponsorship Disclosure:Paid endorsement.Brokerage services provided by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Investing involves risk. Not investment advice. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool by Public Advisors. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. See disclosures at public.com/disclosures/ga. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and investment values may rise or fall. See terms of match program at https://public.com/disclosures/matchprogram. Matched funds must remain in your account for at least 5 years. Match rate and other terms are subject to change at any time.