Column published in Toyo Keizai Online: Simple advice

Good morning, this is Matsushita.

Today, for beginners in investing,

and for those who are suffering because they cannot make a profit,

I would like to give a one-point lesson.

A bad habit of people who invest is that

they are always thinking in their heads,

and they begin to buy and sell based on those thoughts.

“How can I make a profit?”

“Will the stock go up from here?”

“When will the yen start to depreciate?”

All of this is thought in the head,

they come up with answers on their own, and trading begins.

With such half-baked thoughts and judgments as the basis

for trades, you cannot achieve profits.

Therefore, the first piece of advice is only one thing:

“Write it down on paper.”

The three questions written above

if you only think about them in your head,

you will start trading without solid reasons or answers.

However, write these three questions on paper,

and also write down your own answers to them on paper as well.

You will probably

be unable to write the answers.

In other words, you do not know how to make a profit,

you don’t know whether the stock will rise,

and you don’t know when the yen will appreciate.

In such a state of having no knowledge,

you should not trade.

Until you can write those answers,

let us study.

Sometimes, gather information as well.

The questions in investing are not just three.

At first, there are hundreds of questions.

Take them one by one and erase them.

You will become able to answer various questions,

and you will be able to make profits.

Those who think they have answered questions in their heads

will not win.

Those who can write down the questions and

write down the answers on paper will gradually

begin to win.

The question is whether from today you will humbly

put this advice into practice,

or ignore the advice and continue trading with vague judgments

only in your head.

That is all.