Tokyo housewife hides $3 million in forex gains

AlfredSokol said: "Okay, there really must be a lot of money in forex trading. So much, in fact, that a Tokyo housewife [url=http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUST26245420070824]hid $3 million in gains[/url] in order to pay less on taxes. [quote] A financially savvy Tokyo housewife who made 400 million yen ($3.44 million) trading in foreign exchange markets was fined Friday for evading tax, a court official said. Yukiko Ikebe, 60, got a suspended jail sentence and was fined 34 million yen after she used relatives' names to make her gains look smaller and avoid paying tax, public broadcaster NHK said. "She felt it was unfair to have to pay tax on her gains, when she made losses some years," NHK quoted the judge as saying. "She spent the money on kimonos and jewelry."[/quote] Hard to argue with that logic. It looks like everyone is getting rich trading forex. Are you?"

Pb3190 said: "That would be a nice profit. Too bad it doesn't say how much her losses were in the other years. I would think stuff like that happens in every country that has taxes. I have looked at Forex a little, but it still confuses me. With stocks I have an idea what to look for, not so in Forex. The idea of a 24 hour market and the leverage requiring very little start up capital is tempting though, I'm sure I'll be looking into it some more in the future."

AlfredSokol said: "I'm really in the same boat as you. I have an academic interest in the subject at this point. It's hard to get excited about forex trading because it occurs all over the world everyday anyways and the volume is huge. That said, I suspect that newbies get eaten alive. So I'm currently in the research/talking/scheming stage."

Pb3190 said: "Have you found any good books or websites for Forex? I think I understand the very basics, but as far as what to look for in a trade, I am still lost. I used a free trial for a few days over the Summer and just tried to trade, but it didn't work out well."

lil dickie said: "This place has a [url=http://www.ac-markets.com/trading-software/advanced-trader.aspx]Free trial account[/url]. I'm not sure what the catch is but that might be an interesting way to get started with a fake $100,000 account."

JAP said: "Do you realize how many people are going to get into the forex market after reading that story? The thought process would go something like this: [I]"If a Tokyo housewife can do it, [B]anybody[/B] can!"[/I] :laugh:"

Heather said: "You're right about that, JAP - I'm sure those same people will end up paying a tuition in the learning process. She said she didn't feel like she should have to pay taxes for the money because the govt didn't reimburse her for all the money she lost. Interesting ways of looking at things!"

Pb3190 said: "If that way of thinking gets into the majority of people, we would really have a problem. JAP- Some of the sites I have looked at try to make forex seem really easy, but in my mind it is far from it. It's zero sum, so when you make money, someone loses money. I would think many new people don't do their research end up losing their accounts."

JAP said: "[quote=Pb3190]If that way of thinking gets into the majority of people, we would really have a problem. JAP- Some of the sites I have looked at try to make forex seem really easy, but in my mind it is far from it. It's zero sum, so when you make money, someone loses money. I would think many new people don't do their research end up losing their accounts.[/quote] I hear what your saying Pb. IMO, if people don't do their research and/or get into something they have no clue about, they deserve to lose their money. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's reality."

Pb3190 said: "I agree, but I would think many people will try to invest in stocks/forex without doing any prior research. When/if they go broke, they will expect government aid. Or like this woman, try to hide the losses by not paying taxes when they do make money!"

Heather said: "I really doubt that people will suddenly jump into this. Especially if they aren't willing to learn the ropes. They'd be better off playing scratch off lottery tickets."

Pb3190 said: "With thousands of people addicted to gambling and the lottery, there must be some people investing, or trying to, with no real thought behind it. I do agree though, the very average person won't decide out of the blue to try investing or forex. Some places do try to make everything sound very easy though, making the idea more appealing."

Darren said: "I think the future is pretty rosy for forex trading. This type of story is definitely an ad for it. Like JAP said, if she can do I can do it is an obvious thought."

newinvestor123 said: "[QUOTE=Pb3190]I agree, but I would think many people will try to invest in stocks/forex without doing any prior research. When/if they go broke, they will expect government aid.[/QUOTE] The answer to that: No taxes on capital gains!"

Lukester said: "Recently, there was a housewife (or granny?) in Singapore who took part in a warrants trading competition in Singapore. She beat hundreds of professionals (armed with CFA, MBA etc) to clinch the top prize. She managed to increase her trading account more than the rest of her competitors over a given time frame. Does this story and the one in Japan tell us anything about trading? Do housewives make better traders? Is making money in trading that easy even a housewife can do it? Are we ("non-housewife traders") over complicating our trading strategies - making things harder than it ought to be? Just a thought!"

Rbreb13 said: "[QUOTE=Lukester]Recently, there was a housewife (or granny?) in Singapore who took part in a warrants trading competition in Singapore. She beat hundreds of professionals (armed with CFA, MBA etc) to clinch the top prize. She managed to increase her trading account more than the rest of her competitors over a given time frame. Does this story and the one in Japan tell us anything about trading? Do housewives make better traders? Is making money in trading that easy even a housewife can do it? Are we ("non-housewife traders") over complicating our trading strategies - making things harder than it ought to be? Just a thought![/QUOTE]The winner of the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge was a waitress that had never bought or traded a stock in her life."

Pb3190 said: "I think in that CNBC challege though, thousands of people picked random, high risk stocks in the hope they would rocket during the time period. As seen by the results, it can work. What they don't show are the many people who lost, and in real life would have blown out their accounts."

AlfredSokol said: "One problem when making comparisons is taking an anomaly case and assuming it would be the norm. But that's what happens when people go to casinos when they heard someone get rich! Imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery."

Pb3190 said: "Kind of like your casino theory, I won an Ipod at an amusement park game last year. After I won, the line doubled, full of people thinking they had a good chance at winning one as well."