Source: TraderLion "How Clement Ang Achieved 150%+ Returns in the US Investing Championship" (2026-01-17)
Clement Ang was a university student in Singapore when his mother gave him $200,000. He turned it into $1 million riding the COVID bull market.
Then he nearly lost everything.
In 2025, he came back to win the US Investing Championship's million-dollar money manager division with a 150%+ return.
His story isn't about talent. It's about someone who fell hard and learned the right things.
Lesson 1: The Right Priority Order — Preservation First
Clement read Trader Vic and found the framework that changed his approach:
"In trading you always want to conduct your business in the following order: first — preservation of capital; second — consistent profitability; third — pursuit of superior returns."
Most traders start at #3 — chasing home runs before learning how to protect their capital.
Clement made that exact mistake. With $1 million, he thought he was "the next Market Wizard." No system for protection. The result: lost almost everything.
This order cannot be skipped. You have to learn to lose small before you can earn big.
Lesson 2: Stage 4 = Never Buy. No Exceptions.
His first stock was HSBC Holdings — a tip from his mother. The stock was below its long-term moving average, making lower highs continuously. That's Stage 4. Then BABA, breaking down from Stage 3 to Stage 4. He averaged down until he couldn't take it anymore and sold.
His own conclusion:
"I broke a rule — I bought a stock trading below the 200-day. That was a pretty humbling moment."
Stage 4 = off the watchlist. Doesn't matter how far it's fallen. Doesn't matter how good the news sounds. Price below a declining 200d MA = no.
Lesson 3: Don't Fight the Market's Direction
During the 2022 US bear market, Clement learned short selling and did well in Q4. When the market bottomed in October 2022, he didn't recognize it — he thought every bounce was a dead cat.
He shorted Tesla through its entire recovery, got stopped repeatedly, doubled up each time, got stopped again. He lost 60-70% of what he had left.
"I was draining myself mentally and emotionally. I began to trade very emotionally."
The lesson: when the market repeatedly stops you out on the same side, that is information — not a signal to double down. It's a signal to stop.
Lesson 4: Build a Model Book Before Trading
After his break, the first thing Clement did was follow Qullamaggie's advice:
"I began making my own model book — tracking all these stocks that had moved big, consolidated, made a big move again. Making my own annotations."
A model book is a visual library of what winning stocks look like before they break out. It's not a backtest tool. It trains the pattern-recognition part of trading that no indicator can replace.
Lesson 5: Write Down Your Trading Rules
After the major drawdown, Clement sat down and wrote a document specifying:
- What he is allowed to do
- What he is not allowed to do
- Which setups he trades
- How he manages trades
"Trading is as much mental as it is technical. I very rarely see questions on the mental side — how do you handle drawdowns psychologically?"
Written rules don't help you find better setups. They stop you from doing the things you already know you shouldn't do.
The Comeback: Why 2025 Produced 150%+
After rebuilding his system, he traded 2023's bull market carefully. Then he joined the 2024 US Investing Championship to "test himself" and create public accountability. In 2025, with a solid process, he achieved 150%+ in the million-dollar division.
What This Means for Thai Traders
Clement Ang's story is one many Thai traders can relate to:
- Money from family, started well, got carried by a bull market
- No system strong enough to survive when conditions changed
- Painful losses when the market shifted
- Rebuilt with real learning, not luck
The three-priority order from Trader Vic matches everything we validated in 36 years of Thai stock data:
1. Preservation = stop at the higher low, kill switch, 0.5% risk per trade 2. Consistent profitability = trade only tested setups, market regime gate 3. Superior returns = hold winners long, partial exits
This order isn't theory. It's a survival protocol.
What Our Data Shows
Stage 4 avoidance (lesson 2): We compared 737 backtest trades without the 200-day MA filter against 622 trades with it. Results across 2007–2026 Thai data:
| Metric | Without 200d filter | With 200d filter |
|---|---|---|
| Win rate | 48.2% | 49.2% |
| Mean return per trade | +9.81% | +10.81% |
| Average winning trade | +26.89% | +28.28% |
The 200-day filter doesn't just cut losing trades — it selects for larger winners. Exactly what Clement learned the hard way.
Don't fight the market (lesson 3): After a bearish 10w/20w EMA weekly crossover on the SET index, expected 60-day forward returns dropped from +1.41% (baseline) to essentially zero. Repeatedly getting stopped out on the same side is the market telling you the regime has shifted — not an invitation to double down.
This article summarizes lessons from a public interview for educational purposes only — not investment advice. Every setup carries risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.