$150mm day trader hermit

Ever heard of a Japanese loner named Takashi Kotegawa? The hermit turned his college part-time work savings, the yen equivalent of $13,000, into over $150 million in 8 years. The most expensive things he has bought recently, circa the video, are two Nintendo Wiis and he only eats cup ramen.

http://caps.fool.com/blogs/check-out-this-japanes…

The Mizuho trade disaster helped him out tremendously though. Watch the youtube videos of him (AKA BNF trader), even if you don't know any Japanese it's clear how eccentric he is.

14 Comments
 

Man, that's crazy. He looks like an insanely boring person to talk to -- definitely good that he does his thing alone. I wonder if he considers himself to be "happy?"

 

Judging from the video, it doesn't seem to be the case that he looks at charts or level II's. Strange.

Reminds me of a modern Japanese Jesse Livermore.
I win here, I win there...
 

impressed but wouldn't want to be him

"The right to have children should be a marketable commodity, bought and traded by individuals but absolutely limited by the state."—Kenneth Boulding
 

What good is making nearly dynastic wealth like that if you're going to eat ramen and 'ball out' by purchasing two wii consoles....

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 
Best Response

He says he doesn't do it for the money, that it's simply a game for him. He actually bought a massive office building with half of his wealth because he realized that he couldn't trade in the style he does with such a large amount of money. Notice that in the video he also bought $7mm of Lehman Brothers after it tanked, expecting the company to recover:

He also decided to wait out the bottom of the recession (probably because he was traumatized by what the Japanese call "LEE-MON SHOCKKU"), so he didn't make much gains since. At his peak his net-worth was $200mm and actually $150mm is where he has fallen to and I don't know if he is still trading full-time in recent years.

This guy and another lone trader are mostly famous in Japan for being loners and accomplishing this, as extreme social withdrawal is on the rise as the economy stagnates. It's a vicious cycle of culture and economy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_single

 

^Thanks for the info [quote=Putz]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_single[/quote] Disagree with ^ and the underlying assumptions of the articles. Context dependant, can have a positive connotation as well:

The first phenomena was called a hermit in eras past. Saints, thinkers, and artists went through periods of seclusion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit

Especially where life revolves around the family business, all members often live in close proximity if not the same dwelling. Younger members were not necessarily free from responsibility or expenses, and in agricultural societies children are a source of wealth - they work the farm. Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_farming

Agree with you though, the economy is taking its toll on people trying to be independant.

Get busy living
 

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