Hot Stock Market here in Japan

[beanhead]

The majority of people here are "buying the haystack" and not "looking for needles, ala Jack Bogle.

Agreed but I think this part of the forum is specifically for those 'gamblers' who like to try and pick stocks.
Many of the members of the forum are buying the haystack with the vast majority of their funds and also investing a small percentage in searching for needles.

[EmaxisSlim Cultist]

The majority of people here are "buying the haystack" and not "looking for needles, ala Jack Bogle.

Agreed but I think this part of the forum is specifically for those 'gamblers' who like to try and pick stocks.
Many of the members of the forum are buying the haystack with the vast majority of their funds and also investing a small percentage in searching for needles.

He was also talking about taking profit on index funds. This is where my comment slots in. The question reveals that OP may not fully understand the reasoning behind a long-term index investment.

He was also asking about Japanese equities, hence my question. I am curious how OP is screening and analyzing these companies. It seems like a monumental task for a non-native speaker.

If I were picking single stocks, I think I would be mostly looking on the NYSE and Nasdaq and not in Japan though. Unless your Japanese is really great how can you make it through companies earning reports and statements? Isn't the research element really time-consuming?

[beanhead]

He was also talking about taking profit on index funds. This is where my comment slots in. The question reveals that OP may not fully understand the reasoning behind a long-term index investment.

He was also asking about Japanese equities, hence my question. I am curious how OP is screening and analyzing these companies. It seems like a monumental task for a non-native speaker.

Fair enough, and good point about the index funds.

Regarding the Japanese equities, yes agreed that to do a really thorough analysis some Japanese will be needed. However, lot of the larger companies also have IR information, annual reports etc in English as well.
And the financial ratios and other technical data can all be compared once the key vocabulary is known.
So yes it is more difficult to analyze Japanese companies than American ones, but not impossible, I think.
(I have a few Japanese stocks in my tokutei account. Happier with some than with others. Majority of investments are in All-Country and S&P500)

[kansaifolk]

Emaxis slim - By asking if RetireJapan was taking any profits on that stock, I meant cashing in on some of the growth on that particular stock and re-invest in something else. I'm more of an active trader and regularly take profits and use the profits to buy other stocks, but I understand from his follow-up response that he is a buy and hold investor. Clearly we are all different types of investors. I have one friend who always sells at 10% loss (stop loss) or sells at 30% profit. Another does the coach potato redistribution investing. All interesting strategies.
I mostly trade on the Nasdaq and NYSE, but I am trading here more lately taking advantage of this bull run. I explained my limited research on the Japan side in a previous post.

[TJKansai]

Emaxis slim - By asking if RetireJapan was taking any profits on that stock, I meant cashing in on some of the growth on that particular stock and re-invest in something else. I'm more of an active trader and regularly take profits and use the profits to buy other stocks, but I understand from his follow-up response that he is a buy and hold investor. Clearly we are all different types of investors. I have one friend who always sells at 10% loss (stop loss) or sells at 30% profit. Another does the coach potato redistribution investing. All interesting strategies.
I mostly trade on the Nasdaq and NYSE, but I am trading here more lately taking advantage of this bull run. I explained my limited research on the Japan side in a previous post.

My rule of thumb was to sell 50% once it had doubled, and let the other 50% ride. Now I just buy and hold (or sell if nothing happens after 3-5 years).

[seb]

No stocks, no ETFs, just 100% eMaxis Slim All Country global index fund. Up 48% in the last year.

This 48% over 1 year is extremely specific to the last day of October when there was a 5%+ dip in 2020. If you look any other week it's about 30% for 1 year, which is still excellent

All the markets are on a bull run because all countries are printing money, giving them to banks who put it in the stock market + no one took vacations abroad and the seishain/well off people put that and stimulus checks into the stock market.

But neither Japan nor US seem eager to stop stimulating the economy, so either market look like winning bets for the time being.

[captainspoke]

For something like e-maxis all country, isn't a fair amount of the gain--when viewed in yen--due to currency moves?

I ask because, as a US person/investor, I haven't seen 48%, but a back-of-the-envelope scribble or two makes it seem like the coming OAR (to be done as of the end of december), will of course reflect the change in the $/¥ rate. Something I hadn't really been considering until now.

At the end of last december, the rate was 103.50, and it has now gone thru 115. It'll look good on paper, but should that be considered an actual gain? Or part of a 'hot' stock market?


(OAR = overseas asset report)

[zeroshiki]

Its definitely paper gain for now since the forex yo-yos quite a bit. Then again, not all of the holdings are in US dollars so it won't be that big of a hit if it goes down.

[beanhead]

I'm more of an active trader and regularly take profits and use the profits to buy other stocks, but I understand from his follow-up response that he is a buy and hold investor. Clearly we are all different types of investors.

You are right, there are all sorts of different styles and methods of investing.
Many of the members of the forum are focused primarily on investing for retirement (hence the name ).
Your trading could be appropriate for that, but it sounds like too much effort to me.
If you buy a fund representing all of the world's top companies, if you sell it, what do you buy?

[zeroshiki]

Nikkei just dropped 800 points so maybe this was a little premature