A Simple Secret to Gaining Profit — Now Featured in Toyo Keizai ONLINE Column

Good morning, this is Matsushita.

Last week, the Nikkei Stock Average rose for 16 consecutive sessions.

Even with a record-long streak of gains,

individual investors don’t seem to be able to

make profits as they wish,

and it’s becoming a troublesome situation.

Today, I will write about a simple key to earning profits.

That is,

“taking risks.”

Since risk means “uncertainty,”

to “take a risk” equals to placing oneself in an uncertain state.

In investing, you put capital into the market and

hold some kind of position.

Many investors who failed to profit from the recent 16-session rise

are those who were scared of being in the high-price area and didn’t invest their funds.

Since they didn’t hold positions in the first place,

they cannot earn profits.

If the reason is “it’s in a high-price area and I’m scared,”

or “the geopolitical risk from North Korea is scary,”

then they have no willingness to accept risk.

Of course, this won’t lead to profits.

Many investors misunderstand, but

there is no such thing as investments that aren’t scary.

Investing is always scary.

From the moment you put money into the market,

the capital may decrease.

That is scary.

However, to deliberately place oneself in that fear

is because you can earn profits in exchange for it.

To push it one step further,

in that moment, you think you have an advantage,

and you think you can win.

When you believe you have the edge,

the market calls that advantageous position.

If you always verify your own advantage and

take on risk,

when your judgment is correct,

you can reap profits.

“Taking risks”

“Having an advantage”

these are simple concepts that are not easy to implement.

Because they are simple, you can start focusing on them now.

Please take on risks with a sense of having an advantage.