Recently, I saw someone in the community get badly "harvested," which suddenly reminded me that this topic is worth a good discussion. Many novice investors have heard the term "cutting leeks," especially being teased as leeks when losing money, but few truly understand what’s behind it.

First, let’s talk about where this term comes from. As a plant, leeks have a characteristic: after cutting one crop, another can grow back, with very strong vitality. The financial world uses this metaphor to describe retail investors—lacking methodology, easily controlled by emotions, blindly chasing highs and selling lows, losing money like being cut down like leeks. More painfully, after a wave of retail investors are "harvested," new ones immediately enter the market, cycle after cycle, just like leeks growing one after another.

So, who is likely to become a leek? Mainly retail investors, especially inexperienced newcomers. Compared to large investors and institutions, retail investors are at a disadvantage in information, experience, and capital scale. They often have a short-term investment mindset, follow the trend, buy during rises, sell during dips, and suffer heavy losses. The ones who usually harvest the leeks are the market makers or big players—they leverage their information and capital advantages to harvest retail investors’ chips at high points.

There are many methods to harvest leeks in the market. The most classic is "pumping and dumping"—market makers quietly position at low levels, then create a lively false appearance through self-buying and selling, while promoting positive news in social groups. Retail investors, afraid of missing out (FOMO), impulsively buy in. Once the chips are transferred, the market maker quickly offloads, causing the stock price to crash instantly. There’s also "scalping" scams, where scammers pose as "authoritative mentors," post fake profit screenshots, and after retail investors invest large sums, they run away with the money. The crypto world also has its own leek-harvesting methods, such as air coins and wash trading.

How to tell if you’ve become a leek? The most common sign is following the crowd to buy without your own judgment. Buying whatever others buy, jumping into popular trends, without thorough research. Also, lacking awareness—having limited understanding of how the market works, unable to read technical or fundamental analysis, making decisions easily influenced by volatility and others’ advice. Another deadly problem is not setting stop-loss or take-profit points—wanting to make more when profitable, unwilling to cut losses when losing, resulting in increasing losses. Lastly, classic buy high, sell low, being led by market sentiment.

So, how to avoid being harvested? First, develop your own methodology and maintain a strong mindset. Before investing, understand how the market operates, learn analysis skills seriously, and don’t blindly trust so-called experts. Remember this principle: listen to the majority, consider the opinions of a few, and make your own decisions. Also, control your emotions—Warren Buffett said, "Be fearful when others are greedy, be greedy when others are fearful," that’s the realm of mastery.

Second, know how to set stop-loss and take-profit points. Set a 30% take-profit line, and exit decisively when profits are reached. Be willing to cut losses at a certain loss threshold—many trading platforms offer stop-loss functions, which can effectively prevent huge losses.

Third, diversify investments to reduce risk. Don’t put all your money into one asset; learn to seize opportunities across different market conditions.

Fourth, stay updated with market information in a timely manner. Pay attention to both technical and fundamental analysis, and don’t focus on only one aspect. The market changes rapidly; a slight oversight can turn profits into losses, so always keep first-hand market data at your fingertips.

Finally, and most importantly, never trust "mentors" of unknown origin, and avoid investing money in unregulated small platforms. Always choose reputable, legitimate, and compliant large platforms—this is the prerequisite for protecting your funds.

In summary, the essence of harvesting leeks is exploiting retail investors’ lack of rational thinking and market awareness. By following these points, novice investors can largely avoid being "harvested." Of course, to truly become an investment expert, continuous experience and knowledge accumulation are necessary. If you’ve already been harvested, reset your mindset, review carefully, and avoid making the same mistakes next time.