From 4600U to 230,000U, contract profits are not about luck, but about adhering to four life-saving bottom lines.

There is a heartbreaking truth circulating in the contract market: 9 out of 10 traders lose money, and most people do not fail due to technical analysis, but rather because of "greed and not letting go" and "stubbornly holding onto positions." A position screenshot I received last week reminded me of a friend who was on the verge of quitting two months ago—he turned his remaining 4600U into 50 times that, relying not on any "market insider information," but on the four trading rules I forced him to memorize.

Having been in contracts for 8 years, I have seen too many cases where a principal of a million U has been wiped out to zero, but his experience is particularly representative. When he found me, the 4600 U in his hands was the "last hope" squeezed out from rent and living expenses. Prior to this, he blindly followed the so-called "trading masters" and recklessly traded with large positions, reducing his principal of over 50,000 U to just a fraction. In his words: "I stared blankly at the K-line all night, and several times I thought about directly deleting the trading software and leaving the market completely."

Many people face such a desperate situation, and their first reaction is to "go all in and bet on a rebound," but I tell them: "The key to making money with contracts is not to make quick money, but to survive. If you can withstand three rounds of volatile markets, you have already surpassed 80% of retail investors." The first step to surviving is to break up the principal and exchange "small risks" for "big opportunities."

Principal Splitting Method: The Survival Foundation of Retail Investors

I had him divide 4600U into 10 parts, each part being 460U, and set a strict rule: only use 1 part of the principal for each trade and never add margin. This approach looks conservative, but actually hides a profit logic—if the direction is right, take profit immediately when the gain reaches 20%-30%, without being greedy for that little "tail-end market"; if the direction is wrong, cut the position immediately when the stop-loss line is hit, with a maximum loss of 5% of 460U (which is 23U), thus not harming the principal foundation and not affecting the trading mindset for subsequent trades.

In the past two months, he has had losses, but he has never experienced a single loss exceeding 100U; instead, because he has been able to cash out his profits in a timely manner each time, he has slowly rolled out the effect of compound interest. Last week, when he shared his good news with me, he had a stable 230,000U lying in his account, and he even withdrew 80,000U to pay off the mortgage for his family—this is what contracts are supposed to look like: turning profits into reality and keeping risks manageable.

Those who can make long-term profits in the contract market adhere to these four bottom lines.

1. Stop-loss is more important than profit, 5% is the absolute red line.

The deadliest mistake for beginners is to "wait for a rebound." I've seen too many people hold on from a 5% loss to a 50% loss, ultimately leading to a forced liquidation. My requirement for them is: set a stop loss before opening a position, and ensure that any single loss does not exceed 5%. Even if the market reverses after the stop loss, never regret it. The market never lacks opportunities; what it lacks are those who can preserve their capital to seize those opportunities—stop loss is not surrender; it is to leave qualifications for the next trade.

2. Stop when you keep losing; the market doesn't wait for anyone, but you can afford to wait.

My iron rule for all traders: if you have three consecutive losing trades, immediately close the software and take a break for at least 24 hours. When the market is chaotic, emotions interfere with judgment; the more you trade, the more mistakes you make, and the more mistakes you make, the more anxious you become, ultimately falling into a vicious cycle of 'loss - impatience - random trading - more losses.' He encountered three consecutive losses midway, and I directly told him to uninstall the trading software, and to reinstall it the next day. Later he said that if he had forced himself to open a trade that day, he would have lost at least an additional 3000U.

3. Profits must be withdrawn; numbers are always an illusion.

The balance in the contract account, if not mentioned in the wallet, is all "virtual numbers." I forced him to implement the "profit withdrawal rule": for every 5000U earned, withdraw 2500U to the cold wallet, leaving only half of the profit as capital to roll over. When he made his first withdrawal, he was still reluctant, thinking "if I roll it over once more, I can earn more," and I directly reminded him: "The 50,000U you lost before, weren't they all 'virtual numbers' in the account?" Now, every time he withdraws, he sends me a screenshot; this is the true "cash in hand."

4. A light position isn't cowardice; it's leaving room for your mindset.

Never invest more than 10% of your principal in a single trade! Those who take too heavy a position, even if they make the right directional judgment, will be scared out of the market by short-term fluctuations. He initially kept secretly increasing his position, but after a small pullback, he panicked and cut his losses, only to realize later that he sold at the lowest point. Later, he strictly adhered to the 10% position limit, and even when faced with a 30-point fluctuation, he was able to maintain his composure—when the mindset is stable, the judgment won't become distorted, and that is the key to profitability.