While most traders keep their eyes glued to news terminals, professionals in Japan's financial markets are looking at Okasanman's Twitter feed
The BOJ meetings are always known to never have a set timing when it comes to the release of information. And information, is of course king in the world of financial markets.
On 29 January 2016, while the world awaits the announcement by the BOJ, a Twitter handle by the name Okasanman tweeted that "It's a negative interest rate bazooka!", roughly 15 minutes before the BOJ announced that they would take borrowing costs below zero.
One user replied: "This post saved my life. The profits I made are thanks to it".
A prominent day trader by the name of Naoki Murakami, who has more than 38,000 followers himself, said that: "His tweets are absolutely crucial".
Since then, Okasanman has been dubbed the "locust lord" as its account has attracted a swarm of traders who seek to profit from prolific tweets on everything news-related in the industry. While the account may point to release of available information, the speed at which it does (many seems to be automated releases) sees it generate a bigger following than that of the BOJ.
But the identity and motivation of the account remains unknown, as Bloomberg takes a deeper look into the matter here.
Whether or not it is one person, a group of individuals, or an automated code to tweet out news releases - it shows how this is just another example of how much trading has changed in the world today, with Twitter/Tweetdeck being one of the more important tools traders need for information.
