Full-time Investor Shigeru Fujimoto
Started Stock Investment at 19 Meeting Securities Clients... 68 Years of Investment Experience
From Buying 4 Stocks to Becoming a 16.5 Billion KRW Asset Holder
'Buy when it rises, sell when it falls.'
This is a basic principle of stock trading, but it’s rarely followed. Even though I read economic papers and have heard many variations of this saying like 'buy in fear, sell in joy' or 'buy at the knee, sell at the shoulder,' how wonderful it would be if things actually worked that way. Why do I always end up buying when prices fall and selling when they rise? The stock market is truly magical.
These days, I try to buy first and think of it as a pension, holding on patiently. Recently, a secret method book by an 88-year-old active trader grandfather in Japan was published and gained attention. I wonder if I will develop any know-how if I start trading stocks at 80. Today, I share the story of 88-year-old active trader, Mr. Fujimoto Shigeru.
Mr. Fujimoto was born in 1936 in Hyogo Prefecture. He was the youngest of four siblings in a poor farming family. He never dreamed of going to college and started working right after high school at a pet adoption store. There, he began to get acquainted with a securities company executive who was a customer and started hearing about stocks. At the age of 19, he bought stocks in four companies, marking the beginning of his stock investment journey. Since then, he has continued investing, making him a trader with 68 years of experience.
Mr. Fujimoto defines the three essential elements for stock investors as mind, skill, and body. A calm mind that does not get swayed by stock price fluctuations and can take optimal actions, the skill to trade when he thinks 'now is the time,' and the body, which means both a healthy physical condition and financial liquidity.
He is a stock investor who constantly learns. Originally, he traded directly on the floor, but in 2002, at age 66, he bought a computer and started day trading via internet trading. Even now, he keeps three monitors in his room, watching Nikkei and CNBC market broadcasts during trading hours, checking stocks continuously, and placing about 130 trade orders daily. At 88 years old, it doesn’t seem easy to monitor three screens, but his motto is 'There is no age limit in investing.' He also runs an X (formerly Twitter) account, where he reads various Japanese morning papers daily and posts brief predictions of the day’s market flow. For example, he might say, 'Today, the Japanese market is expected to remain cautious ahead of Nvidia’s earnings and the FOMC minutes. The US market rose slightly, but overnight Nikkei futures declined, likely starting in a weak zone.'
You could say this vibe comes from experience. Because he doesn’t invest based on simple intuition, he has contributed several articles to Japanese economic papers like Nihon Keizai (Nikkei). Regarding his investment method, he says, 'As a day trader, the basic rule is to sell when prices rise and buy when they fall.' However, he also emphasizes that many people neglect technical indicators, which should not be the case. He carefully watches the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the divergence between current prices and moving averages. No matter how well a stock is rising, if he thinks it is overvalued, he never buys it. He told Nikkei, 'I don’t buy stocks that are going up; I buy those I think won’t fall further.' He also avoids theme stocks that become popular through rumors.
Earlier this year, there was media coverage that Warren Buffett showed interest in Japanese stocks. About this, Mr. Fujimoto analyzed, 'Recently, Mitsubishi Corporation and others rose because Warren Buffett invested in Japanese trading companies. The expectation arose as the current 5% stake might increase to nearly 10%.' Interestingly, while many followed Mitsubishi Corporation’s rise, Mr. Fujimoto sold some of his shares. He explained, 'Someone like Buffett would never deliberately raise the price of stocks he truly intends to buy in the future. The basic principle of investing is to make the other party buy at a high price and sell at a low price.' He also analyzed, 'If Buffett plans to buy more trading company stocks, he will quietly increase his stake to 10% without mentioning it.'
Newspapers posted by Mr. Fujimoto on the day the Nikkei average stock price reached an all-time high. (Photo by Shigeru Fujimoto X)
However, he admits he has lost many times and faced many hardships. Especially when the Nikkei index recorded its largest drop ever, surpassing Black Monday on the 5th, he lost 260 million yen (about 2.393 billion KRW), but recovered 140 million yen (about 1.288 billion KRW) on the 6th. He openly shared this story with the media. He also advised, 'Cutting losses by selling when prices fall is the worst move I recommend. Since it’s common for held stocks to plunge, to cover this, you must buy blue-chip stocks and hold them long-term simultaneously.'
In fact, this is just a mild example. He experienced Japan’s bubble economy and high economic growth but also saw his assets shrink from 1 billion yen (about 920 million KRW) to 200 million yen (about 1.84 billion KRW) when the bubble burst. There was also a time when safety, not stocks, was at risk during the Hanshin earthquake. Currently, his assets have recovered to 1.8 billion yen (about 16.5 billion KRW), and he trades about 600 million yen (about 5.522 billion KRW) monthly. In his recently published secret method book, he revealed, 'Making money is secondary; I do it because it’s enjoyable.'
Of course, many people consider themselves experts in stocks and have many anti-fans. Mr. Fujimoto also wrote on X, 'Recently, many people have spread rumors that I am retiring due to chronic illness.' He added, 'I do think about it. I want to sequentially sell off my current investments and enjoy the last time of my life.' However, he plans to continue sharing his know-how. He said, 'I will continue to provide investment guidance for everyone. I want to leave something in the stock market that made me by passing on my long experience.'
Even after reading this article, many might react with 'What kind of investment gains are those?' But isn’t the very power to keep focusing on something at 88 years old enviable? I also want to be a smart investor managing tens of billions in capital by the time I’m 88.
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