Are there “dirt dogs” in the US stock market too? I almost got fooled by a biotech stock

There are dirt dog coins in the crypto world, and the US stock market has similar “story stocks.” I almost stepped into a trap on Gate.

That day, I was bored and scrolling through Gate’s US stock listings. I saw a biotech stock—forgot the ticker, but the share price was around $0.5—and it jumped 200% in a single day. I clicked into the news and it said the results of a certain anti-cancer drug’s Phase 2 clinical trial were “positive.” I got tempted. At $0.5, buying 100 shares would only cost $50. If it climbed to $5, that would be a tenfold gain.

Thankfully, I held back. I went to look into the company’s background first: over the past three years, it has racked up total losses of $200 million, and the cash on hand is only enough to burn for 6 months. This so-called “positive” result was only that the trial met a certain secondary endpoint—the primary endpoint was not met. And the drug is still in an early stage; the chance of it passing Phase 3 is below 10%.

That’s what a “dirt dog stock” in the US looks like: a small market cap, low liquidity, and hype driven by the news. Once Phase 3 fails, the stock price essentially goes to zero. Even if it succeeds, there’s still the need for later fundraising that dilutes shareholders’ equity. The risk is even higher than dirt dog coins in crypto, because with dirt dog coins at least you know it’s gambling—while these biotech stocks are wearing the “value investing” disguise.

I didn’t buy. Even though I missed the subsequent continued hype (it later rose another 50% and then fell back to the original level), I don’t regret it at all. Because this kind of money isn’t mine. I can’t make money from “betting on drugs.”

There are many such stocks on Gate—priced at a few cents, a few dollars, and with extremely high daily turnover. My advice is: don’t touch them. You think you’re averaging down at the bottom, but in reality you’re just taking over someone else’s bag. Be honest and buy NVDA, Microsoft, Apple—although they may grow more slowly, they won’t suddenly go to zero.

Remember: in the US stock market, staying alive matters a hundred times more than making money fast.

#分享美股交易赢英伟达股票