How Vibha Jha Won the US Investing Championship
- FinancialWisdom
- Oct 15
- 7 min read
The Strategy That Beat Everyone
Today, we are deep diving into the methodology of one of the top performers in the U.S. Investing Championship (USIC): Vibha Jha. Through her hybrid approach to trading, Vibha generated triple-digit returns in the money manager division —managing over $1 million, two years in a row (2020 and 2021), and a respectable 70% return in 2023, followed by a 78% return in 2024.
Vibha has demonstrated remarkable consistency and exceptional returns, translating decades of corporate experience into a robust, hybrid trading system.
Her success is particularly notable in her application of the CANSLIM methodology to positional trading, complemented by a highly effective, rules-based swing trading strategy utilizing the leveraged ETF, TQQQ.
While most traders will tell you to pick a lane: either be a stock picker or trade ETFs, Vibha's approach proves that the most successful traders don't follow rigid rules—they adapt their strategy to market conditions.
Vibha was a corporate executive at Aetna who stumbled into trading after watching her account drop 80% in the dot-com crash. That devastating loss became the foundation for a methodology that would eventually compete against Wall Street's finest.
We will break down her complete hybrid system—when she trades individual stocks, when she pivots to TQQQ, and most importantly, how she decides between the two.
Before diving into the hybrid approach, you need to understand Vibha's core philosophy: she only wants to own true market leaders - companies with the potential to double or triple over 12-18 months.
In 2009, Vibha discovered the CANSLIM methodology through a newsletter that analyzed its performance. The analysis showed that CANSLIM had returned 35.2% per year over an 11-year period. This revelation appealed to her long-term goal of trying to "triple or double" her money every three to five years, realizing a 35% annual return could almost double capital every two years. She committed to learning the system, using the book “How to Make Money in Stocks” as her primary guide, alongside a temporary subscription to IBD (Investors Business Daily).
Her screening process starts with the IBD 50, Sector Leaders, and IPO Leaders. But her trading approach does not stop at the fundamentals. Vibha demands both fundamental excellence AND technical setup alignment.
For fundamentals, she requires quarterly earnings and sales growth of 25% or higher, preferring 30% to 35% or more, with particular interest if earnings are 70% or higher. She looks for high ratings: EPS, Composite, and RS ratings generally above 95. She also looks for increasing institutional support (accumulation/distribution rating and number of funds)
While fundamentals help in identifying suitable trading candidates, entries are always based on technicals. Though she uses weekly charts for overall direction, she executes buys using the daily chart. She prefers entering when a stock is emerging from a Stage 1 or Stage 2 base, often favoring classic bases like the cup with handle and double bottoms. She aims to buy when the stock is retaking the 50-day or 10-week moving average, ideally making higher lows.
Here is how Vibha sizes trading positions.
She generally initiates a position with no more than 10% of her portfolio and aims to hold six to eight individual stocks. To time the trades well, she avoids buying too close to earnings reports, typically waiting until earnings have been released unless the report is at least a month away.
She adds to existing positions (up to 12.5% to 15% total position) when the stock bounces off the 50-day/10-week moving average for the first time or forms its first three-weeks-tight pattern.
Let’s now talk about risk management.
Vibha realized that the biggest improvement to her performance was limiting losses. She employs a technical stop-loss rather than a rigid 7-8% numerical stop. She sets her stop based on the 10-week or 50-day moving average. When she buys, she aims to be within 8% of that technical stop-loss level.
For profitable positions, Vibha has multiple exit rules:
Moving Average Violation: She will sell if the stock severely undercuts the 10-week moving average or the 50-day moving average. If the stock does this and she has already achieved her desired gain, she is "out for sure".
Gap Down: A significant gap down, such as a 20-something percent drop, often caused by earnings, is a clear technical sell signal, and she will exit immediately.
Vibha's longer-term, 12-to-18-month holding period means she also exits based on changes to the underlying business:
Loss of Conviction: She will exit sooner if the business strategy has changed, the leadership has changed, or if she no longer has conviction in the company.
Weaker Holdings: When the overall market shows signs of a deeper correction, she will get rid of her weaker performers first to reduce exposure.
She also uses her quarterly review process to ensure capital is allocated efficiently. In the review, she will sell a stock that has achieved a good gain (say 70% return) if she has her eye on a new investment on her A-list that she believes has the potential for a higher return (say a 100% potential).
She tolerates pullbacks of 5% to 8% within the context of a larger uptrend, especially if the volume is low, noting that she often waits until the end of the week to see if things "smooth themselves out."
Here is the part that separates Vibha from most swing traders
When individual stock setups dry up—which happens regularly in choppy markets—she doesn't sit in cash. She pivots to swing trading TQQQ - a 3x leveraged ETF tracking the NASDAQ 100 - with concentrated positions.
Let’s first understand the merits for TQQQ Utilization
1. Tax Advantage: She uses TQQQ extensively in her IRA accounts because she does not have to worry about the tax implications of short-term gains.
2. Market Exposure and Leverage: The strategy originated when she found that many companies meeting her strict CANSLIM criteria were the massive growth stocks (like the Magnificent Seven). Since these were already so large, she felt they were less likely to double or triple quickly compared to smaller market leaders. TQQQ allows her to gain leveraged exposure to those strong names for an oversized return.
3. Market Entry Tool: When the market turns around after a deep correction, she uses TQQQ as her initial entry strategy (often entering around day four or five of a rally, even before a formal follow-through day). This ensures she is invested while she takes time to find the best six to eight individual stock setups. Once she identifies those individual positions, she starts selling down the TQQQ to transition into the stocks.
Her TQQQ strategy isn't random. She tracks specific metrics on a spreadsheet: percentage moves from peaks to troughs, number of days for each swing, and volume characteristics. Over years of observation, she identified that TQQQ typically delivers 20-25% swings multiple times per year.
Here's her systematic approach: She enters TQQQ positions when it gets close to the 50-day or 21-day moving average after a 10-15% pullback. She will initiate a buy as the price begins to turn around and make higher highs.
She follows a different position sizing rule for TQQQ, generally initiating positions at 25% of the portfolio dedicated to TQQQ, sometimes going as high as 50%. In Roth accounts, she has sized positions up to 90% or 100%. She tries to maintain a 25% core position in TQQQ as long as the overall market remains in a long-term Stage 2 uptrend.
For exits, TQQQ is a primary vehicle for selling into strength. Vibha aims to capitalize on moves of 20% or higher, in contrast to her defensive selling approach for individual positions. She tracks specific metrics—peaks, bottoms, duration of moves—to understand the pattern of TQQQ swings within the current market cycle.
Vibha uses a comprehensive checklist of specific, rules-based sell signals. She does not sell everything at once but sells in chunks (like 10% blocks) as multiple signals are triggered.
Here is the TQQQ Selling Checklist:
1. New 52-Week High: She starts watching closely when TQQQ makes a new 52-week high, anticipating potential resistance or profit-taking.
2. Declining Volume on New Highs: New highs made with declining volume are viewed as a warning sign.
3. Distribution Days: When the NASDAQ index accumulates four to five distribution days, she becomes more aggressive in locking in gains.
4. 10-Day Moving Average Violation: She sells if TQQQ gives up the 10-day moving average, especially if this occurs on rising volume.
5. Consecutive Down Days: If there are three consecutive down days in rising volume, this triggers a sell signal.
6. Resistance Rejection: If the price hits a known resistance level and gets rejected three times.
7. Poor Close/Volume: A poor close and rising volume below the 10-week moving average is also a key indicator.
8. Bulls versus Bears Index: When this index climbs above 60%, she considers this a secondary indicator that the market sentiment is becoming "frothy".
Vibha emphasizes that this strategy requires strict adherence to rules, as TQQQ is "very ugly on the way down". If she enters early during a rally, she manages risk by getting out immediately if the price undercuts the low of the rally day.
The million-dollar question: how does she decide between individual stocks and TQQQ?
Individual stocks get priority when three conditions align: strong market environment with minimal distribution days, multiple stocks meeting her fundamental criteria appearing on IBD lists, and clear technical setups with proper base formations.
TQQQ becomes the focus when individual setups are scarce, the market is emerging from a correction but individual stocks haven't formed proper bases yet, or when she needs liquidity to capture shorter-term market swings without tax implications in retirement accounts.
Here's a crucial insight from her 2023 performance: seven of her ten individual stock trades were losers, but her overall return was still impressive because the three winners were four times larger than the combined losses. Meanwhile, TQQQ swing trading provided consistent 20-25% gains multiple times throughout the year, contributing a bulk of 2023 returns.
This reveals the psychological advantage of the hybrid approach: when individual stock picking becomes frustrating, TQQQ provides a reliable alternative that keeps you engaged with the market rather than sitting in cash.
Most importantly, it acknowledges that markets change. The same strategy that works brilliantly in trending markets might fail in choppy conditions. By having two complementary approaches, you can adapt to whatever market environment emerges.
The key insights: focus on true market leaders when individual setups are available, pivot to TQQQ when they're not, size positions according to conviction and time horizon, and maintain systematic risk management for both approaches.
Remember, Vibha achieved these results without margin except the default leverage in TQQQ, proving that proper strategy and risk management matter more than leverage. Her success in the US Investing Championship demonstrates that individual traders can compete with professional money managers when they develop systematic, adaptable approaches.
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