Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Connection Trap: Derivation differs from the original. Let’s say you’ve uncovered the secrets to investing in stocks and made a fortune. The secret you hold is valuable, but if you publish a book about those secrets and spend time giving lectures and counseling to teach others, it becomes difficult to concentrate on your main job—investing in stocks. Investments, publications, lectures, and consultations all revolve around the theme of “stocks” and are linked by a single story; however, each has its own distinct features. Expanding your work isn’t easy. Adding another item to a restaurant menu creates additional problems. We think that time is limited, but often we fail to use it wisely. It’s a miracle we don’t fail while spending time as if consuming water. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Numbers and Management: Without numbers, a business can’t grow beyond a certain point. Here’s a simple example: imagine you go to the bank to get a loan because you don’t have enough cash for your operations. To qualify for a business loan , you need financial statements like balance sheets . Banks don’t lend based on looks or abilities but decide if your current financial situation is promising for the future. It’s hard to get a loan if you don’t tell a story with numbers. If you rely solely on bank deposits , you’ll spend what you have or borrow if you run out. That keeps your business running as it is, but without verifying your creditworthiness with numbers, don’t even consider borrowing from the bank. Good debt can create leverage, but bad debt can wipe out even your past gains. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Debt : The essence of wealth is ‘debt.’ Liabilities are regarded as debt capital and included as assets in accounting . Isn’t it odd? Debt is classified as an asset... The fundamental idea that currency is created based on the principle that debt arises is crucial. Debt can serve a positive purpose by lowering opportunity costs , but it can also be harmful if not repaid, as it deprives others of their opportunity costs since it must be paid back. Managing debt properly is essential for a company's capabilities in certain situations. Understanding others’ debts can help maintain good credit. However, there are limits to examining others’ debts. Instead, we can monitor the flow of money as an apparent interest rate. Therefore, recognizing and responding to interest rate fluctuations during economic activities is extremely important. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Anticipation and Verisimilitude: The degree to which a creator convinces audiences that a work is authentic and trustworthy is called verisimilitude . Verisimilitude relies on anticipations. For example, people view photography as a realistic medium, while they consider painting to be non-realistic. Consequently, they see picturesque photos and hyperrealistic paintings as valuable. In other words, scarcity and value are found only in works that either meet anticipations related to verisimilitude or fantasies. Content that lies in the middle often tends to underperform at the box office. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Convergence : A phenomenon where a specific value or level moves toward a certain standard . A bubble occurs when a community’s value rises excessively due to overestimation , while an undervalued state is the opposite. Both eventually settle at a balanced value recognized by the community , called convergence. Bubbles and undervaluation represent states at any given time. If a seller sets a product at an excessively high price, it won’t sell indefinitely, and the seller will eventually lower the price. Market prices tend to converge. There isn’t a single correct market value, but converged values exist, and this phenomenon gives the market its meaning and existence. There’s no need to be arrogant when doing well, as your high wages will eventually align with the market price. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Pricing Power : The phenomenon where the value of money falls below the price of goods is called inflation , and it is said we are currently in an era of inflation. However, it’s not that simple. Inflation is realistically characterized by prices not rising all at once during an inflationary period but rather increasing rapidly for some items and slowly for others over several years. This phenomenon is known as the ‘ Cantillon Effect .’ In other words, inflation is neither uniform nor regular. Conversely, when prices fall below the value of money, it is referred to as deflation . To survive deflation, companies must innovate, often by reducing costs and expenses. During inflation, rising costs must be passed on to other economic agents through increased prices, a concept known as Pricing Power. Since companies cannot pass on all the rising costs, many go bankrupt during periods of inflation. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”