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posted by n1 on Monday September 29 2014, @10:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the world's-casino dept.

Jason Clenfield writes in Businessweek that tax returns show that a former video game champion and pachinko gambler who goes by the name CIS traded 1.7 trillion yen ($15 Billion) worth of Japanese equities in 2013 -- about half of 1 percent of the value of all the share transactions done by individuals on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The 35-year-old day trader whose name means death in classical Japanese says he made 6 billion yen ($54 Million), after taxes, betting on Japanese stocks last year. The nickname is a holdover from his gaming days, when he used to crush foes in virtual wrestling rings and online fantasy worlds.

“Games taught me to think fast and stay calm." CIS says he barely got his degree in mechanical engineering, having devoted most of college to the fantasy role-playing game Ultima Online. Holed up in his bedroom, he spent days on end roaming the game’s virtual universe, stockpiling weapons, treasure and food. He calls this an early exercise in building and protecting assets. Wicked keyboard skills were a must. He memorized more than 100 key-stroke shortcuts -- control-A to guzzle a healing potion or shift-S to draw a sword, for example -- and he could dance between them without taking his eyes off the screen. “Some people can do it, some can’t,” he says with a shrug. But the game taught a bigger lesson: when to cut and run. “I was a pretty confident player, but just like in the real world, the more opponents you have, the worse your chances are,” he says. “You lose nothing by running.” That’s how he now plays the stock market. CIS says he bets wrong four out of 10 times. The trick is to sell the losers fast while letting the winners ride. “Self-control is so important. You have to conserve your assets. That’s what insulates you from the downturns and gives you the ammunition to make money.”

 
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  • (Score: 2) by bootsy on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:07PM

    by bootsy (3440) on Tuesday September 30 2014, @06:07PM (#100067)

    A good trader is right 51% of the time.
    As long as you make equal weighted bets you simply have to be right slightly more than you are wrong.

    Of course most people can make money in a bull market, after all the price just goes up.
    In this case the biggest investor in Japanese equities appears to the Bank of Japan due to "Abenomics". I find this very scary. How will they ever exit their position? Selling even a fraction of it will cause a huge downward move in the market.

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