Episode 2 | Elliot Tu, Why This 27-Year-Old Skips the Charts and Bets Big on AI Storage

The Road to Million Dollars is a deep-dive interview series by the Tiger Community, featuring outstanding investors recognized under the "$1 Million" Honors Program.

The "Million Dollar" Honors Program is not about the size of an investor's assets. Instead, it recognizes the investment capabilities investors consistently demonstrate in real markets. Within a designated calendar year, every $100,000 in realized gains unlocks one Tiger Gold Brick or Tiger Gold Ingot, with up to nine rewards available. When an investor reaches $1 million in gains, they achieve the "Exclusive Edition" Million Dollar Milestone.

Every investor on The Road to Million Dollars has their own approach and answers. Some are still exploring and refining their strategies in the market, while others have already built a mature investment framework. What truly deserves to be seen, however, is how they identify opportunities, make decisions, and manage risk.

Through the real experiences and reflections of these outstanding investors, The Road to Million Dollars hopes to inspire fellow Tiger Community members to find their own path to investing success.

Investor Profile

27 years old, no finance background, majored in PR in college — Elliot defines himself simply: "I'm just an ordinary retail investor."

But this "ordinary retail investor" has a very distinct way of thinking about investing.

He doesn't watch candlestick charts, and he doesn't use P/E level as a buy/sell signal. In his view, what really matters for a stock comes down to two things: where is the market's money flowing right now, and does this company have a long enough growth narrative?

From his early days stop-lossing out of $Intel(INTC)$ on a short-term dip, to later holding through a roughly 40% unrealized drawdown, to now putting most of his research effort into $Micron Technology(MU)$, $SanDisk Corp.(SNDK)$, $Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$, and the broader AI storage supply chain — Elliot's approach has gone through a shift from "fear of drops" to "understanding volatility."

Below is this episode's Q&A with Elliot.

Q1: How did you first get into investing?

A: It was actually during the pandemic.

I had a childhood friend who invested in $Bitcoin(BTC.USD.CC)$, and later $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$, and made some money doing it. Would be lying if I said I wasn't a little envious.

But the more practical reason was that I realized keeping all my money in the bank meant the interest couldn't keep up with rising living costs. Rent, utilities, transport — everything kept getting more expensive.

I considered real estate too, but the problem is liquidity is too poor. I also collect some silver coins and antiques, and those have the same issue — when you want to sell, you're not guaranteed to find a buyer right away.

So I started researching stocks. What I like most about U.S. stocks is the liquidity is good enough.

As long as it's not a really small-cap stock, you can execute trades quickly even with a million dollars or more. That liquidity matters a lot to me.

Q2: Why did you end up not sticking with Bitcoin and instead focusing on U.S. stocks?

A: I did buy some Bitcoin ETFs early on, and some crypto-related stocks too.

But eventually I felt stocks suited me better. Because behind a stock there's at least a real company — you can look at its business, financials, products, revenue, and piece together a relatively complete picture.

But something like Bitcoin, to me, feels more like it's just pricing between buyers and sellers. So in the end I leaned more toward U.S. stocks.

Q3: What was your first stock?

A: $Intel(INTC)$.

I honestly didn't know much back then. I just felt companies like $Intel(INTC)$ and $Boeing(BA)$ were old, established names that seemed pretty stable. Then right after I bought, some negative news came out, the stock dipped a bit, and I stop-lossed immediately.

Later on, $Intel(INTC)$ went on to rally a lot.

That experience had a big impact on me. It slowly made me realize: a short-term price drop doesn't necessarily mean your investment thesis was wrong.

Sometimes you just got shaken off the ride by short-term volatility.

Q4: What do you focus on most when picking stocks now?

A: Personally, I don't look at candlestick charts. That's just my own approach — doesn't mean everyone should do it this way.

I feel like candlesticks and trading volume are things that get easily influenced by large capital. The moment institutional money comes in, the stock can move right away.

So for me, more important than technical indicators is: where is the market's trend heading right now.

For example, this cycle's trend is AI. So you need to research which parts of AI actually matter, and which companies could become the sector leaders within that trend.

At the end of the day, stocks trade on the future. You have to judge whether institutions will keep buying into it going forward.

Q5: So you don't pay much attention to P/E either?

A: Right.

I don't think you can simply buy stocks based on P/E. A low P/E doesn't mean a company is necessarily worth buying. A high P/E doesn't mean you necessarily shouldn't buy it either.

What really matters is: does it still have a story going forward, is there room to grow, and is capital still willing to pay attention to it.

For example, some traditional companies look cheap on valuation, but the market has no new growth expectations for them, and no institutions want to keep allocating capital there. That kind of low P/E on its own doesn't drive a rally.

On the flip side, some growth companies' financials might not look great right now. But you need to understand: why is it borrowing money right now? Why is capex so high right now? Will that spending turn into growth down the line?

I think you really have to look forward, not just at the numbers as they stand today.

Q6: How do you think about "market trend"?

A: I think the market is always rotating.

This year it might be AI. In the future it could be humanoid robots, space, or some other new direction.

What really matters isn't clinging forever to one sector. It's being able to recognize the trend as a new mainline forms, and finding the highest-conviction sector leader within it.

That way your odds of making money go up.

Q7: Why did you focus specifically on storage within this AI cycle?

A: I hold $Micron Technology(MU)$ and $SanDisk Corp.(SNDK)$ myself, and I also keep an eye on Samsung and $SK hynix(SKHY)$.

Because storage is a really important part of AI development right now.

If you ask who's strongest in this industry right now, I'd say $SK hynix(SKHY)$ is more worth watching than Samsung. Especially in HBM and high-end DRAM — its technology and market share are both fairly ahead right now.

So in the short term, I think the Korean memory makers' edge is pretty clear.

Q8: Then why are you more bullish on $Micron Technology(MU)$ for the long term?

A: I look at short-term and long-term separately.

In the short term — roughly the next 3 years or so — I think $SK hynix(SKHY)$ still has the advantage. It has large capacity, fairly advanced technology, and demand across the whole industry is still strong right now.

But for the long term I factor in a different variable: geopolitics and industrial policy.

The U.S. is really emphasizing domestic manufacturing right now. So long-term, I lean more toward U.S.-based companies. I think $Micron Technology(MU)$ and $Intel(INTC)$ both stand a good chance of getting more industrial policy support.

$Micron Technology(MU)$ especially — I think it still has a lot of room to grow going forward.

So my thinking, roughly, is: look at industry competitiveness for the short term, and policy plus industry structure for the long term.

Q9: Why aren't you heavily weighted in $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ anymore, and more bullish on $Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$ instead?

A: I bought $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ pretty early on, entering at around $400, and it rallied all the way up to the $1,200–$1,800 range before the split — I gradually took profits along the way.

It's not that I'm bearish on Nvidia now — it's that its size has already gotten really large. For me, what matters more going forward is looking at:

Who still has bigger growth elasticity.

I gave a simple example at the time:

If a company's size goes from "1" to "2," that's a double.

But if another company can go from "2" to "10," its elasticity is a completely different story.

AMD still has room to grow its market share in both GPUs and CPUs right now. Especially now that CPUs are increasingly participating in AI compute scenarios — if AMD can keep taking some GPU share from Nvidia going forward while also expanding its CPU market, I think its growth potential is bigger.

So the reason I'm more focused on AMD now isn't because $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ is bad — it's because:

When looking at AI either way, I'd rather find the one with bigger growth elasticity.

Q10: Optical modules are so hot right now — why did you actually exit that trade?

A: I tried it. I lost about 5–6% after buying in, and I got out. I basically haven't touched it since.

It's not that I think optical modules have no future — it's that a lot of these companies have relatively small market caps and very high volatility. That risk doesn't match what I can personally tolerate.

Some of the leading names in that space might be relatively more stable. But for me, I'd rather put my energy into directions I understand more clearly.

Q11: What's the largest account drawdown you've ever experienced?

A: About 40%.

That period was genuinely rough. There was one night the market kept falling with almost no bounce, and I didn't sleep at all.

But at the time I went back and re-examined the fundamentals of the companies I was holding. I found that even though the market was panicking, the companies themselves hadn't fundamentally changed.

For example, I was holding chip companies. A shift in the macro environment doesn't mean people suddenly stopped buying chips.

So in the end I didn't sell. And I got through it.

Q12: What let you hold through that 40% unrealized loss?

A: It still comes down to knowing: why did you buy it in the first place.

If a company genuinely has a fundamental problem — say, its products stop selling, or the industry logic has shifted — then of course you need to reassess.

But if it's just the macro environment or market sentiment shifting, I don't think you need to panic-sell.

So my risk judgment isn't "how much has it dropped?" — it's "is the reason I originally bought it still valid?"

Q13: Have you ever actually stop-lossed because the fundamentals changed?

A: Yes. $Rocket Lab USA, Inc.(RKLB)$, for example.

I bought it early on. But after researching further, I started having doubts about its competitive position and corporate governance.

On one hand, it's up against very strong competitors like $SpaceX(SPCX)$. On the other, I wasn't a fan of management repeatedly selling shares after the stock price rose. The company itself also hadn't really built stable, sustained profitability yet.

So in the end I chose to exit.

Of course, it might still do really well down the road. But at least at this stage, it doesn't fit my investment thesis, so I'm not going to keep holding it.

Q14: How do you allocate your positions?

A: Most of my capital is medium-to-long term — roughly 70%–80%. That's the part made up of companies I genuinely believe in, and I hold those for the long haul.

Another roughly 20% I might trade as swing positions. For example, if a company drops sharply on some short-term event but the fundamentals haven't actually changed, I might step in and trade that move.

The short-term slice is even smaller. I only put a small amount of capital in for quick in-and-out trades when I feel the opportunity is very clear-cut.

So overall: long-term positions as the core, swing trades as a supplement, and short-term trading is just a small piece.

Q15: How do you think about "investing with spare money"?

A: The money I put into the stock market is, basically, money that — even if I lost all of it — wouldn't change my life.

If these stocks really did go to zero, I'd still drink whatever coffee I normally drink, still eat whatever I normally eat. It wouldn't affect my daily life.

I think that matters a lot.

Because if you're investing money you need to pay rent with, or pay off a loan with, or money you have to be able to pull out — then when the market has a big drop, you're going to have a really hard time.

You might end up selling not because your investment thesis changed, but because you simply need that cash.

Q16: Why don't you really trade options?

A: I think options are a good tool. They're just not a great fit for me personally.

Options have expiration dates, and variables like IV (implied volatility) and a lot more. That's too complex for me.

I still prefer my trading style to be: holding actual shares of stock in hand. I know clearly how much a company's up or down.

If you genuinely understand options well and have studied them systematically, then sure, go for it. But if you don't understand them, I don't think it's worth forcing yourself to play with them just for higher returns.

Q17: What about leveraged ETFs?

A: I think leveraged ETFs are suited to specific situations.

For example, if the market goes through a clear, sharp drop, and you're sitting on a lot of cash, and you're very bullish on that industry's future — that's when you might consider using leverage to boost your rebound returns.

But I wouldn't hold one long-term. Leveraged ETFs are inherently very volatile. You have to know exactly when to get out.

So it's more like a tool you use when an extreme opportunity shows up — not a long-term holding.

Q18: What did it feel like hitting your first $100,000 in profit?

A: I was pretty happy, honestly.

I heard a saying once: the hardest $100,000 in investing is the first one.

I think there's truth to that. For an ordinary salaried worker, actually saving up $100,000 through work alone isn't an easy thing to do.

So that first $100,000 really was a milestone. I think it's fair to celebrate that a bit (laughs).

Q19: You're now close to the $1 million goal — when do you hope to hit it?

A: That's really hard to say. Maybe next year, maybe next month. The market can't be predicted.

All I can say is: as long as you stay in this market long enough, there will always be opportunities.

Of course, you also can't assume everything is a sure thing. Even a company like $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ could change in the future.

So you still need patience. Life is long.

Q20: If you could give other investors just one piece of advice, what would it be?

A: You have to do your own research.

Don't just rush in the moment someone recommends a stock to you. And definitely don't invest money you genuinely can't afford to lose.

Because even if the stock someone tells you about really does go up, if your own understanding hasn't caught up, you probably won't be able to hold it anyway — and you'll end up giving those gains right back.

So I think the most important thing is: you need your own logic, your own judgment.

It's your money. And in the end, the person who has to make the decision has to be you.

Closing Thoughts

There's a clear contrast in Elliot.

He's only 27, has no finance background, and will say quite directly that he only started investing because he saw a friend making money and realized bank savings couldn't keep up with inflation.

But a few years later, his understanding of investing has shifted from "this stock dropped, should I run?" to "where is money in this industry headed next?"

The first time he bought Intel, he stop-lossed the moment some short-term negative news hit. Later, facing a 40% unrealized loss on his account, he was able to go back to a company's fundamentals and judge whether his investment thesis had actually changed.

That shift isn't really about "getting braver." It's that he's become clearer and clearer on why he's buying in the first place.

That also explains why he doesn't put faith in candlestick charts, doesn't treat a low P/E as a margin of safety, and isn't willing to take on volatility he doesn't understand — like optical modules — just to chase a hot trend.

His system might not be a conventional one. He'll say quite plainly: what really matters for a stock is market trend, and whether institutions are willing to buy in.

But behind what looks like a system of just "following the money," there's actually a pretty clear discipline underneath it: understand the trend first, then find the sector leader; be clear on why you're buying before deciding whether you can hold it; only use money you can afford to lose, and wait for the opportunity that's genuinely yours.

So when we asked him when he expects to hit his $1 million goal, he didn't give a firm answer. Maybe next month, maybe next year.

Because in his view, what investing really requires certainty about was never "will it go up tomorrow" — it's: when the opportunity shows up, are you still in the game.

💬Let's Talk

Tigers, after reading Elliot's investment logic, which point do you agree with most?
Skipping the candlestick charts and just tracking market trend? Holding a long-term core position and only using a small sleeve for swing trades? Or do you agree more with his take on AI storage — short-term industry advantage, long-term policy and structure?
Drop your thoughts in the comments — and tell us: if it were you, would you rather hold Micron, AMD, or keep holding Nvidia right now? [Cool]