BNF & His Trading Journey
Japanese retail trader who turned $13k to $153m in 8 years
Takashi Kotegawa (nickname BNF / J-Com man), 44-year-old (2022) with a net worth of 185 million USD (2008) is Japan’s most famous day trader.
But BNF has been described as a hermit who turned his college part-time work savings, the yen equivalent of $13,000, into over $150 million in 8 years.
In the process, BNF has become a cult figure among Japanese day traders, a tight circle of self-taught professionals who take pride in working one of the world’s most active markets.
The most expensive things he has bought recently, circa the video, are two Nintendo Wiis and he only eats cup ramen.
After FOMC’s interest rate cut BNF sold all his stock holdings in financial sector stocks etc…) and he earned 400 million yen by the close of morning trading. He said to the announcer, “I don’t know Japanese stock market’s future. I don’t look at the market from a long-term perspective. ”
The Japanese market has been buoyed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Bank of Japan flooding the market with cash via an asset-buying program. So all that liquidity sloshing around in the market has made it very profitable to be a Japanese day trader.
Japanese day traders have gotten so big, the market can no longer ignore them or the huge price swings they amplify, says David Baran, a co-chief executive officer of Symphony Financial Partners, a $400 million Tokyo hedge fund firm.
The J-Com Trade
In 2005, BNF made millions through a single trade in J-Com Holdings after its IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
That opportunity was thanks to an error committed by a trader at Mizuho Securities, who accidentally sold 610,000 shares at one yen each instead of selling one share at 610,000 yen! That huge sell order sent the stock price crashing, and ofcourse, Takashi saw an opportunity over there.
He bought 7,100 shares while the price was down. While he chose to sell a part of his position in the bounce and held some shares overnight, he had reportedly made more than $17 million at the end of that trade.
BNF’s Trading Strategies
It's natural to wonder about the ‘magic’ strategy that Takashi used to make millions in the stock market. But all that's been clear till day due to the absence of adequate details about it. Neither does he share every trade publicly nor much information at all about how he made his millions.
But apparently, it's believed that he thinks that it’s easier to make money in bear markets than in bull markets, and looks for short-term rebound plays in stocks that are down.
BNF’s style is mainly swing trading (although many believe him to be a day trader). He uses technical analysis to determine the lowest point to enter a position, he is a bottom fisher.
Some people describe BNF’s trading strategy as divergence day trading, wherein he uses indicators like Bollinger Bands, Relative Strength Index (RSI), volume ratio, and the 25-day moving average for decision making. He also supposedly likes to buy stocks that are at least 20% below the 25-day moving average and then profit from the bounce.
And, since the markets constantly change, he tends to adapt the percentage he looks for based on the overall market and individual sectors. He also gets a feel for how stocks in different sectors move and how fast they rebound, and then accordingly takes his decisions.
More importantly, like all day traders, he too likes to capitalize on momentum, especially when the market is down.
Recommended Videos to Learn More About BNF
Below are some concise documentary-style videos about BNF that I would recommend you to watch to learn more about him & his trading strategy. This channels also made other high quality finance / business videos that I strongly suggest you to check them out.