After a 15-hour flight, I’m excited to be back in the U.S. Expect a flurry of Computex content here in the coming days, including interviews and thought pieces.

The overall takeaway from Computex is that demand for CPUs and HBM memory remains incredibly strong. Jensen isn’t in Korea throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game, floating the idea of GTC in Korea, and appearing on a popular TV show for nothing. He’s there to win over Korea and secure better memory chip allocations. He said it literally himself in this video while handing out snack chips: “No HBM for you. I need HBM.”

But first, I can sense that some readers are struggling with the volatility, so I wanted to share a few general portfolio management tips. Markets can get hit by all kinds of surprises: tariff wars, Middle East conflicts, sensationalized media narratives manufactured for clicks, and more.

It’s best to have a thoughtful plan so you’re best prepared to succeed.

1. Avoid leverage. Charlie Munger said this at the one Berkshire annual meeting I attended two decades ago: “The only way smart people can get clobbered is if they use too much leverage.” His point was simple. A smart, disciplined investor can ride out volatility as long as they are not overleveraged. Take on too much risk, and the market, or the margin clerk, may eventually force you out at the worst possible time. Don’t be greedy. Heed Munger’s advice.

2. Invest for the long term. No one can predict what will happen day to day, week to week, or even month to month, and anyone who claims they can is full of it. The market is volatile. Stocks do not climb 1% or 2% every day in a straight line. You have to be able to stomach big moves in both directions. Every secular growth rally has scary selloffs and pullbacks, often 30% or more, even as the broader trend moves higher. Stay focused on the underlying fundamentals, as long as they remain intact, ride it out.

3. Do your own work. Know what you own. Investors who rely entirely on someone else for stock ideas are more likely to panic and sell at the worst possible moment. Reading Substacks can be a good starting point, but you still need to do your own research and build your own conviction around every idea. That is what gives you the confidence to ride out volatility when it comes.

4. Focus on finding next year’s product cycle winners. I’ve found that if you identify the companies with the strongest fundamentals tied to the next major product cycle, things tend to work out over a one-year time frame. History is full of stocks that climbed even during recessions because they were riding a powerful product cycle, from Nvidia’s first GPUs during the dotcom crash to the early years of Apple’s iPhone.

5. Don’t overtrade. If you have a winner, don’t get too cute trying to trade every zig and zag. Often, the stock rallies when you least expect it, for no obvious reason. Big returns come from riding the winners. The one exception: if a stock doubles in a very short period, say two months, consider cutting the position in half and letting the rest ride. You don’t want to ride it up 100% and then all the way back down 50%.

6. Avoid FOMO. Invest early at a good entry point, at a reasonable valuation, and don’t chase. If you decide not to invest, that’s fine. Stick with the decision. If you miss it, you miss it. There are thousands of other opportunities. Don’t chase a stock just because it jumps 30% after you decided not to invest at first. That kind of FOMO often leads to panic selling when the stock pulls back 30%.

7. Diversify across three to five ideas. Take multiple shots on goal. Spread your bets across your top three to five ideas rather than going all in on one. In any given year, it is impossible to know which product cycle idea will drive the biggest returns. Not every idea will work and the top performer is often the one you least expect, the stock that doubles or triples and drives the portfolio. That’s how it worked for my annual ideas list across six different years.

Summary: As long as the underlying fundamentals remain intact, ride out the volatility. Be emotionally self-aware and mentally prepared to sit through a 30% drawdown without giving up.

Find the market leaders tied to the best product cycles over the next year, especially the ones with the potential to beat earnings expectations significantly. Do that and good things tend to happen.