In this society, the income we earn by working for a company would not be enough to support what you and your family want to achieve. With just an average level of income, we might not even be able to afford a house to live in. This is because the world is hierarchically organized by social classes ; the rich leaving their wealth for their offspring to inherit, while the poor remain poor, generation after generation. We cannot earn enough money through our careers alone anymore. Instead, we need to pay attention to the flow of money and market trends, and take advantage of this social reversal through “investment.” Perhaps this is the only way we can free ourselves from the social constraints on property. Do you want to be super-rich? If so, then you can take a big first step by investing.
There are many kinds of books that deal with effective investment strategies. In order to make a successful investment, the first thing to do is to read what many experts say and to follow their advice. There are thousands of books about investment so I cannot list all of them down in this two-page article. Instead, I want to refer a basic and important, but still not well aware of, principle to make profit. This principle is to understand the correlation between market trends and each company’s stock. Many people have well-planned portfolios but not all of them make profit since they do not understand this simple and basic principle.
When the economy is prosperous, each stock also has a big possibility of rising. Therefore, you should be aware that holding stocks regardless of the economic trends is not a wise thing to do. Is the stock market in bad shape? Then how about taking a rest until the next skyrocketing change? Many investment experts may agree that finding the right time to buy and sell stocks is the most significant thing in investment. Did you buy a stock which contains great amount of potential? Well even if you did, it would be too impetuous for you to be relieved. You still have to keep your eye on the market trend carefully and catch the right moment to sell it.
Jung-dae Park is a student who goes to a school named East Anglia in England. He has invested some stocks since he was in middle school and eventually he benefited a lot from that investment. One of Park’s methods of getting information is through an Internet Cafe. After he joined the cafe, he could share information with other users. What he emphasized the most was doing some research about the market by oneself and not being swepted by others’ opinions since the stock market is full of rumors and manipulations.
He also highlighted, “Searching for value-stocks on your own with information based on newspapers or books is the best way to invest. Read the economy section everyday and follow up with economy issues in this world. Only through this process will you have some kinds of sense to foresee the market trend and the flow of money. Furthermore, it is the only way to survive in the market full of rumors.” Park has gained attention from others by claiming his anticipation based on his research and with high accuracy. Moreover, he got an invitation from Mirae-asset Account with supporting scholarship.
His advice for students with no experience is this: “Just give it a try and have some interest.” You do not have to put real money with a lot of pressure from the first day. It is best for us to start with a trial-invest for at least one year. You should study a lot before you actually invest. In this practice, you need to try to analyze the pattern of companies’ stocks which have increased dramatically in the past years. You also need to know the features those stocks contain. As I have emphasized several times above, the ability to understand the market trends and the flow of money will lead you to a successful itinerary in investment.
However, the stock market itself still contains a high level of danger since it is completely operated by the supply-demand principle. Before putting real money in the market, you should be aware that there are many people who invested without deep research and went bankrupt. It is important to remember that investments can provide us an enormous amount of wealth but, at the same time, can also take away everything we have gained for lifelong time in the blink of an eye.
Investment is a game of probability. Even an expert fund manager in Wall Street cannot assure 100 percent that he can produce a profit. Thus, the basic prerequisite of investment is to use only spare money, not everything you have. Moreover, you must devote plenty of time in studying market trends. Of course, becoming a super-rich person is not an easy thing. But investing might open the door for you and while you invest your economic sense which is essential to live through this capitalist world. I sincerely hope you all succeed in your investments.
Youn Sang-hyuk Guest Reporter
ricky05r@uos.ac.kr