"I would like stock investors to be prepared for worsening profits and losses"—a column currently published on Toyo Keizai ONLINE.

Good morning, this is Matsushita.

Yesterday I introduced,

While looking at the “2017 Individual Investor Performance Report,”

I will continue the commentary.

The cumulative results of investors in each market since they started investing are,

expressed as profits and losses,

Stock market = 43:57

Forex market = 31:69

Commodity market = 33:67

Total for investors = 39:61

For reference, in the cumulative results up to 2016 examined last year,

Stock market = 32:68

Forex market = 15:85

Commodity market = 25:75

Total for investors = 25:75

This was the result.

Since the respondents to the questionnaire are not exactly the same,

it cannot be compared conclusively, but 2017 was a year when

investor profits and losses in each market recovered.

Nevertheless, 61% of all investors overall lost money,

and it shows how difficult it is to achieve sustained profitability

overall.

When comparing by market, 43% of stock market investors

achieved overall profits, whereas

in the forex and commodity markets, only 31% and 33%, respectively,

struggled.

This same trend can be read in the cumulative results up to 2016,

and relatively, investors in forex and commodity markets seem to be

struggling more than stock market investors.

In particular, stock market investors

saw many gains in 2017,

and it is a positive development that

they improved their profit-and-loss situation.

However, viewed from another angle,

we must be vigilant about deterioration in profits and losses

during any future downturn adjustment phase.

The market is always fluctuating between favorable and unfavorable periods,

between rising and falling, between trends and corrections,

going back and forth,

so when the next downturn begins,

I would like you to be prepared to protect your funds properly.

That moment will certainly come.