An antique engraved illustration of the Capital Philosopher at the helm, holding a scroll with the quote 'THERE ARE NO FACTS, ONLY INTERPRETATIONS', navigating a turbulent sea of financial metrics and data points. A lighthouse and a bust of Nietzsche are visible on a distant shore.

0-1. [Prologue] In the Face of the Rough Sea of Capitalism: Confessions of a Chart Slave

by

Introduction: Holding the Master’s Book Again at the Edge of the Cliff

Five long years. It was a time when I strictly limited my sleep to four hours a day to study and build structure after structure. Yet, I couldn’t give up here. If it was necessary, it simply had to be done.

However, in my current state, moving forward seemed impossible. I was completely exhausted. In the end, I reached for a book once again. Just as I did when I first started investing in stocks—it was the only thing I knew how to do. Unable to reveal the deepest thoughts of my heart to anyone, books were my sole remaining choice.

What book should I read? The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. I had already mastered it once, yet I found myself holding it again. But this time, worn out to the bone, I read through the text with a deeply pessimistic and twisted perspective.

“An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative.”

Had I been speculating all this time? Even after staying up countless nights to study? If a person who cannot spend much time researching stocks is defined as a ‘defensive investor,’ just how much time must one pour into it to qualify as ‘much’? What if all those mountains of study I suffered through were fundamentally headed in the wrong direction from the very root?

He says to buy corporate value cheap, but what price is truly “cheap”? Even if one dissects fundamentals down to the marrow, can a human being ever know the absolute intrinsic value of a company down to the penny? Even if purchased cheaper than its fair value, what good is it if the times and society turn their backs on that company?

What on earth was I supposed to do? Ruthless questions violently shook my mind, plunging me into a massive vortex of chaos. Overwhelmed by criticism and cynicism, I eventually threw the master’s book across the room.

These were questions for which no answer emerged, no matter how hard I wrung my brain. Even after scouring the internet and searching endlessly, people only squabbled with their own logics—not a single soul could provide a clear-cut answer.

This was the very book Warren Buffett praised and recommended so fiercely. Would Buffett himself be able to offer a crystal-clear answer to these questions I threw out? Unlikely. Was all this rhetoric ultimately nothing more than grand wordplay to package their own good fortune and success?

Endless suspicion and skepticism washed over me. Yet, I couldn’t stop here. Amid these vast, dark questions where no answers seemed to exist, I had to find my own answer at all costs. And then, I found it—the person who answered every single one of these absurd questions with a single sentence.

1. There Are No Facts: Friedrich Nietzsche’s Words of Salvation

“There are no facts, only interpretations.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche

There is no fixed answer to what is cheap and what is expensive; it all depends on how you interpret it. At first, it felt like an absurdly nihilistic answer. But those words became my salvation.

Stripping away all the complex indicators and rhetoric, the only simple proposition left burning in my heart was just one: “Buy cheap, sell dear.”

I was thoroughly burnt out. Looking back at the market in this exhausted state, the true essence of the stock market unexpectedly began to categorize itself with striking clarity. Reflecting quietly, all those sleepless nights spent building up research and study existed solely to comprehend this single truth:

  • Fundamental Indicators (ROE, PER, PBR): Tools attempting to interpret where the current price stands relative to intrinsic value by analyzing a company’s financial health.
  • Technical Auxiliary Indicators (Ichimoku, RSI, MACD, Envelope): Attempts to capture the psychological equilibrium point between buyers and sellers within the waves of a chart.
  • Chart Patterns & Wave Theories (Sakata’s Five Methods, Elliott Wave Theory): Desperate struggles to decipher repeating patterns within the trajectories drawn by the crowd.

These numerous tools were not complex mathematical formulas predicting an absolute future. They were merely mankind’s desperate struggles to read the surging ‘desire’ of market participants. Once the noise of countless indicators was cleared away, only two core elements remained in the market:

“Value,” and “Desire.”

2. Why Invest Again After So Much Suffering?

There were days when I devoured the success stories of investment titans with deep envy. Yet, behind the swinging account balances and the cheers evoked by red and blue numbers, a cold question always lingered:

“Was their dazzling performance merely the good fortune of a secular bull market created by the era, or was it a foolproof, inevitable system?”

The endless success stories overflowing in the market were nothing more than arrogant lectures, failing to save my trembling account or my life. Having suffered the bone-chilling pain of blowing up my account three times, why can’t I leave this brutal market and instead stand before it once more?

The reason is crystal clear: in this massive ecosystem called capitalism, ‘capital’ is the sole shield and vehicle that can preserve the independence and autonomy of my life.

The reality I faced was that labor income alone could not keep up with the soaring pace of inflation. I felt that if I stopped here, I would have no choice but to be dragged along by a system designed by others, surrendering control of my own life. Painful as it may be, I cannot achieve the true freedom I dream of without crossing this ocean.

Therefore, moving beyond technical trading that simply memorizes chart candles, I began delving deep into philosophy, mathematics, and science to govern the nature of capital and human psychology.

And finally, I arrived at one grand truth. The giants who ultimately triumphed in the market were not omnipotent heroes who predicted the future with perfection. They were those who refused to abandon their posts amidst fierce storms and bear market terror—‘the ones who were always there’ when decisive wealth opportunities arrived.

Conclusion: The Logbook of a Solitary Helmsman

I am not yet a legendary hero with hundreds of millions in proven wealth. But because I press forward without giving up amidst rough waves, I am by no means a failure either.

This writing is not a wealthy man’s boastful display of pride. With the solid anchor of Stoic philosophy dropped, holding the helm of neuroscience and mathematical rebalancing, this is a ‘Logbook of a Solitary Helmsman’ and a survival guide navigating the market until the next calm arrives.

Do not be swayed by the endless noise of the world or the illusion named ‘Fact.’

Instead of fearing market volatility, capture the equilibrium between value and desire through your own philosophical interpretation. When you lay down the arrogance of prediction and bind yourself atop a resilient system, the rough sea of capitalism will cease to be a storm that destroys you—becoming instead a powerful wind carrying you straight to your destination.