They made big money on risky trades in the -2-

To investors like Scheneman, it doesn't matter that Oklo has yet to generate revenue. He believes nuclear energy will eventually flourish in the U.S., due in part to the immense amount of power required to run and train artificial-intelligence models. The fact that the Energy Department has selected Oklo to participate in a pilot program has only reinforced his bullish view on the company.

And when UnitedHealth's stock dropped from $500 to $250 earlier this year after the company disclosed unexpectedly high costs related to its Medicare Advantage plans, Scheneman said he concluded the stock had become cheap. It recently changed hands for $327.

"It was at a huge discount compared with where it is usually trading at," he said. "It seemed like a no-brainer."

'Every degen is a future Vanguardian'

Grabbing a baby alligator with two hands: Akash Bhardwaj leaned into risk in 2025.

Akash Bhardwaj, a 24-year-old engineer living in Seattle, made about $80,000 trading stocks and options this year. According to account statements he shared with MarketWatch, most of his returns came from risky options bets on shares of one company, chip maker AMD. "I just knew AI was going to be huge," he told MarketWatch in an interview. He had heard about AMD and its chips from people he knew and had read about the company on the internet.

Bhardwaj held out-of-the-money options tied to the stock when its shares jumped more than 30% in intraday trading on Oct. 6. By the time he had sold his options, he had earned a profit of $65,000, his statements showed. He described to MarketWatch the rush of excitement upon seeing the surge in his account value on Oct. 6 as being unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

"IDK WHAT TO DO," he posted alongside a screen shot of his position's massive gains. "I am 24 years old and just woke up to this."

Bhardwaj said he now hopes to use the money to one day make a down payment on a piece of property. Others who spoke with MarketWatch said they planned to chart a more conservative path going forward by taking their winnings and sticking them in an index fund.

According to Eric Balchunas, an ETF strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, this is hardly a surprise. Even risk-loving individual investors eventually hit their limit, he said.

"There's a saying we have: Every degen is a future Vanguardian," Balchunas told MarketWatch during a recent interview. "Degen" is a term that alludes to degenerate gamblers and first gained popularity on Reddit to refer to investors who gravitate toward wildly risky strategies. Meanwhile, the investment firm Vanguard has been credited with popularizing low-cost and diversified index funds.

Investing clearly had a moment on social media in 2025, according to Naomi Win, a behavioral-finance analyst at financial-software company Orion Advisor Solutions. "We post online because it confirms us," she said. 'I did a good thing, I show you, now it's real for me.' I think that's a really big part of this."

Several of the investors who spoke with MarketWatch said that in addition to using social media as a screen for ideas, they also appreciated the sense of community they found on Reddit. They decided to share information about their gains in part to feel like they were giving back and to continue the conversation, they said.

"I share my gains because it gives you a bigger platform," Werner said. "And talking about my process is just fun. I enjoy being active in the community because it's something you don't really get in person."

Christine Ji contributed.

-Joseph Adinolfi -Gordon Gottsegen

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-15-25 0900ET