[Summary]
Supply and demand are the most fundamental relationships that drive prices.
When you compare supply and demand with actual examples, it becomes easier to see the difference between situations where it can be used and situations where it is difficult to use.
In actual investment, we first start by looking at supply and demand, inventory, number of issued shares, and buying and selling entities. However, we cannot overlook the fact that it is easy to try to explain stock prices based on business results alone.
In this article, we will organize supply and demand not as "knowledge" but as steps to check before buying or selling. Don't rush to conclusions, read according to your financial amount and time horizon.
First, distinguish between demand and supply.
When looking at supply and demand, first separate what you want to determine. The information you need will change depending on whether you want to know the meaning, confirm before buying or selling, or review your current holdings.
Especially for beginners in investing, the easier the words are, the more they tend to take them as a conclusion. Supply and demand are not the only factors that determine a decision. If you want to check it, it is more realistic to look at it in conjunction with fund management, holding period, and opposing materials.
Thinking about supply and demand using practical examples
If we look at supply and demand as an example, we first make narrow assumptions. It is important not to mix up whether you are talking about the market as a whole, individual stocks, NISA or long-term funds.
Checking the following points will make things a lot easier.
| Axis to check | What to look at in terms of supply and demand |
|---|---|
| purpose | What do you use to judge? |
| Time axis | Which is closer to short-term trading, long-term holding, or NISA? |
| basis | Which one is more important: price, business performance, interest rates, exchange rates, or psychology? |
| risk | When things go the other way, where should you look again? |
| action | Will it lead to buying, selling, or doing nothing? |
Points that can easily cause trouble in making decisions
Supply and demand stumbles not only when there is a lack of knowledge. In fact, there are situations where we interpret something conveniently because we know a little bit about it.
- Focus on one scene where supply and demand work well
- Even if the price movements are similar, if the background is different, they are treated as different things.
- View not only successes but also failures using the same criteria.
- Check if you can reproduce it with your own amount of funds
The important thing here is not to settle on a single correct answer based solely on supply and demand. In investment, the meaning of the same material changes depending on the market, holding period, and amount of funds. When in doubt, prioritize confirmation over conclusion.
Checklist before buying and selling
Before making actual decisions about supply and demand, check at least these five things.
- Can you explain in one sentence the purpose of looking at supply and demand?
- Have you confirmed one or more countermeasures or failure conditions?
- Are you investing your living funds or money that will be used soon?
- Have you decided in advance the criteria for cutting losses, taking profits, and continuing to hold stocks?
- Are you making judgments based only on social media or short headlines?
Checklists are simple, but they prevent you from adding reasons after making a decision. The purpose of checking supply and demand is not to act faster, but to reduce unnecessary errors in judgment.
Summary
Supply and demand are the ingredients for organizing investment decisions. Even if you read it as an example, your judgment will be inaccurate if you treat it as a standalone buy/sell signal.
The points to keep in mind are as follows.
- Decide first the purpose of looking at supply and demand
- Do not mix time axis and amount of funds
- Check not only good materials but also negative materials
- When using NISA and long-term funds, consider how to handle losses
- When in doubt, reduce your position or postpone it.
The more knowledge you have, the safer it seems, but in the market it can become dangerous if you use it incorrectly. It is realistic to treat supply and demand as tools to pause before buying or selling, rather than words that force you to make a hasty decision.