《Currently featured in Toyo Keizai ONLINE column》Challenge to big profits!

Good morning, this is Matsushita.

Yesterday's U.S. market was,

closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Shanghai Composite Index slipped slightly.

USD/JPY continued to fall, landing in the high 110s.

NY Gold rose further.

The day before yesterday, at the first seminar of the year,

I spoke to about 50 stock investors about our strategy for this year

and new challenges, among other things.

This seminar is held around this time every year, and

I have met a wide range of individual investors, including

those who have been attending for more than ten years,

both familiar faces and first-timers.

Among them, I was especially pleased to see

an elderly female investor who has been participating for over ten years

and saw her early in the day,

which brought a sense of nostalgia, so I called out to her immediately.

After talking with her, I was surprised,

and she said with a smile,

“I’ve turned 88.”

This drew a chorus of “Ohh” from the entire venue.

What’s even more remarkable is that this person earned more than 20% in profits last year,

and at the seminar that day, only four investors made more than 20% in profit,

which is quite the Best 4, placing her in the top 10%—a formidable feat.

Moreover,

she said,

“In the latter part of last year I earned more than 30% in profit,

so this year I’ll aim for that again and push hard.”

Incredible, isn’t it.

Even at 88 years old, she continues to generate profits almost every year,

and she remains energetic and enjoys investing.

Last year, because the stock market environment was favorable,

about 75% of the investors who attended on that day earned profits,

and increased them.

At the after-seminar gathering,

there were confident statements like,

“Over the next five years I will double my capital,”

“This year I will increase the profits from 800,000 yen to over 1,500,000 yen,”

and other such strong aspirations were heard one after another.

In this seminar, we allocated an hour to discuss

a topic we have not yet covered: “techniques to generate large profits.”

When you hear about techniques to generate large profits,

you might imagine some special method, but

in the world of investing, there is very little that is truly特殊; by pursuing theory and essence,

while managing funds, you can significantly increase profits.

After teaching that,

the above-mentioned resolutions and goals for this year sounded even more reassuring.

Next January’s seminar,

I am looking forward to receiving more good reports from these people.

This year there is a substantial possibility of a mid-term decline,

and I intend to exercise sufficient caution at that time.

For now the stock market is starting off strongly,

so please aim for big profits and take on the challenge!