When he first entered the market in 2000, what was his approach to learning trading? Was it self-study through books, online forums, or other methods?
Alright, let's chat about how B.N.F. (Takashi Kotegawa), known as the "Japanese Stock God," studied when he first entered the market. This guy is indeed a legend, and his story has inspired many.
Rather than having some secret weapon, his success is more like that of a martial arts fanatic who mastered supreme skills.
Unveiling the Entry Path of "Japanese Stock God" B.N.F.
Let's go back to 2000. Takashi Kotegawa was then a university student. The dot-com bubble had just burst, and the market was panic-stricken. He dove in with 1.6 million yen (roughly equivalent to over 100,000 RMB at the time) saved from part-time jobs. His learning approach can be summarized as follows:
1. "Self-Learning" Was Core, an Extreme Form of It
He had no teacher, attended no training courses, and didn't apprentice under any big names. His entire trading system was essentially figured out bit by bit in his small room, staring at the computer screen. It was like a swordsman practicing in seclusion, detached from the outside world's turmoil, solely focused on his "martial arts manual"—the market itself.
2. Books Provided Enlightenment, Not Rigid Rules
It's impossible to say he was completely uninfluenced. He has publicly mentioned that one book significantly impacted him: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
- Why this book? This book isn't a technical manual teaching candlestick charts or indicator parameters; it's more about trading psychology, market sentiment, and the philosophy of speculation. It helped B.N.F. understand the market's essence—a place driven by human greed and fear.
- What did he learn? He gleaned the most fundamental trading principles from it: "trade with the trend" and "cut losses short and let profits run." He also studied techniques used by some US day traders but didn't copy them directly.
3. Practical Experience Yielded True Knowledge, Online Forums Were Just "Background Noise"
By 2000, Japanese online forums (like 2channel back then) were already quite active. The alias "B.N.F." itself came from a forum.
- Did he lurk on forums? He would read them, but his learning method was not about asking "Gurus, what's your take on this stock?" or copying others' methods.
- The role of forums: For him, forums were more like a place to gauge market sentiment and gather information. He observed what people were discussing—what caused panic or frenzy. But his real learning happened after the market closed: repeatedly reviewing and analyzing the day's price movements to identify patterns.
4. Original Trading Method: Simple Yet Executed to Perfection
His methodology was remarkably straightforward, centered around "Deviation Rate" (Bias).
- How to understand it? Imagine a stock price as a dog tethered to its owner, with the moving average (like the 25-day MA) being the owner. The dog sometimes runs ahead, sometimes lags behind, but usually stays relatively close.
- B.N.F.'s Operation: He specifically looked for stocks suffering panic selling, where the price (the dog) had fallen far below its moving average (the owner). He judged that the "dog" had strayed too far and was due to snap back, so he bought at that point, betting on a short-term technical rebound.
This method sounds simple, but the difficulty lies in:
- Massive Observation: He needed to monitor hundreds or even thousands of stocks simultaneously to spot the "optimal timing." His famous multi-screen trading room was built for this.
- Precise Judgment: How to distinguish "overdone decline" from "the start of a downtrend"? This required countless trades and reviews to develop market intuition.
- Discipline: What to do if wrong? Cut losses immediately, without hesitation. This is the essence he learned from Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
In Summary
So, returning to your question: When B.N.F. first entered the market in 2000, his learning path was neither solely reading books nor mixing in forums to learn technical tricks.
His approach was:
Establishing a trading philosophy framework through classics like Reminiscences of a Stock Operator + Extremely focused observation of the market itself + Summarizing simple yet effective personal trading rules through massive amounts of practical trading and review, executed with ironclad discipline.
He had no shortcuts. His "shortcut" was pouring all the time others spent socializing, entertaining, or resting solely into studying the market.