How I Blew Up During USD/JPY Economic Announcements

So after getting interested in FX, I started browsing brokerage websites and reading countless blogs.
I thought, “Let’s be safe. I’ll start with USD/JPY.”
That was the plan, anyway…

contents

My Investment Debut Was Supposed to Be “Safe Driving”
When I Thought Economic Announcements Were a Festival
Stubborn Humans Repeat the Same Mistake
What I Learned (Or More Like, a Warning to Myself)
Looking Back, That Blow-Up Was a Turning Point
Conclusion: Blowing Up Isn’t Shameful
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My Investment Debut Was Supposed to Be “Safe Driving”

When I first started investing, I was extremely cautious.

“No risky stuff right away.”
“Start with the classic, stable option.”

With that mindset, I chose USD/JPY as my first currency pair.

“The yen and the dollar? That’s basically the most stable pair in the world!”

Armed with this completely unfounded confidence, I traded quietly in a range market.

A small win here, a small loss there.
Overall? Slightly positive.

At this point, a dangerous feeling started to grow inside me:
“I think I kind of get FX now.”

…Yes. This is usually where the flag gets raised.

When I Thought Economic Announcements Were a Festival

One day, I noticed something.

“Wait… prices move a LOT during economic announcements, don’t they?”

Big movement equals big opportunity.
Pure beginner logic.

I checked the economic calendar and entered the trade, excited.

“This one’s a win.”
“No, today is literally the day I win.”

The moment I opened my position—

The chart instantly launched itself in the opposite direction.

Stop loss triggered.
I stared at the screen, completely frozen.

“Wait… all those small profits I carefully stacked in the range market…
Are they… gone? Like, instantly?”

Inside my head, that familiar game-over sound effect was playing on repeat.

Stubborn Humans Repeat the Same Mistake

This was where I should have stopped.

But humans are strange creatures.

Instead of learning from failure,
we prefer to dream about “winning next time.”

“It was just bad timing.”
“I’ll read the indicator properly next time.”
“I’ll enter with a smaller position this time.”

The result?

Blown up.
Blown up.
Blown up.

Before I knew it, my trading history was basically a collection of
“USD/JPY + economic announcement + disaster.”

I had developed a completely useless confidence:
“If this were a competition, I’d be undefeated at blowing up during USD/JPY news.”

What I Learned (Or More Like, a Warning to Myself)

After enough pain, I finally learned a few things.

Jumping into economic announcements thinking they’re a “festival” will burn your wallet to ashes
You either accept blow-ups as tuition—or you quit

People say, “It’s experience points, so it’s fine.”

Honestly, in that moment?
It’s absolutely not fine.

But without those painful losses,
I probably would’ve kept repeating the same mistake forever.

Looking Back, That Blow-Up Was a Turning Point

Because of this experience, I later shifted my focus to
accumulation-style FX and stability-focused strategies.

Instead of chasing jackpots,
I realized I needed a boring method I could actually continue.

I can laugh about it now.
Back then, I absolutely couldn’t.

But if that blow-up had never happened—

I’d probably still be saying,
“Next time for sure!” while charging straight into economic announcements.

Conclusion: Blowing Up Isn’t Shameful

Early traders usually blow up right after thinking “I’m pretty smart”
Blowing up isn’t shameful—turn it into real experience
What matters is what you learn and how you use it next

For me, this disaster became the trigger that led me toward
accumulation FX and high-interest currency strategies.

So now I can honestly say:

“Thanks for that blow-up.”