September 11 ー What I Learned from the Ehime Shimbun Business Section ー September 11, 2026 (Friday) Reiwa8
Today, I read the business section of the Ehime Shimbun again.
Recently, I have started to enjoy reading the business section.
In the past, when I saw numbers such as stock prices, exchange rates, trading value, and market capitalization, they were simply numbers arranged on a page.
But as I have read the newspaper little by little every day, I have started asking myself, "What does this number actually mean?"
On September 10, the Nikkei 225 closed at 65,270.95 yen, up 128.17 yen from the previous day.
However, the market fell by more than 900 points in the morning before recovering in the afternoon and finally closing higher.
What I found interesting was that the rise in the Nikkei did not mean that all stocks had gone up.
In fact, the numbers of rising and falling stocks were almost evenly balanced.
Even so, the Nikkei can rise.
One reason is that the Nikkei 225 is more strongly influenced by stocks with high share prices.
In other words,
"The Nikkei went up"
does not mean
"all Japanese companies' stocks went up."
I feel that I finally understood this much better this time.
I also began to understand the difference between "trading value" and "market capitalization."
Trading value is the total amount of money involved in stock transactions during the day.
Trading volume is the number of shares that were actually traded.
Market capitalization, on the other hand, is like the "price tag" of all the shares of a company or a market, calculated using the current share price.
Although all of these are numbers related to money, they have completely different meanings.
I also thought about foreign exchange rates.
For example, if one US dollar is 150 yen, 10,000 dollars is 1.5 million yen.
If one US dollar is 140 yen, the same 10,000 dollars becomes 1.4 million yen.
When the yen becomes stronger, the amount of yen received when overseas earnings in dollars are converted into yen becomes smaller.
Therefore, in general, a stronger yen can put downward pressure on the earnings of export companies.
On the other hand, imported raw materials and products may become cheaper.
So it is not correct to say that a stronger yen is bad for all Japanese companies.
The effects of exchange rates differ from company to company.
Today, I also thought about prices in food markets.
At the Matsuyama Central Wholesale Market, the difference between the highest and lowest prices for the same vegetables can sometimes be quite large.
The differences were particularly large for items such as daikon radish, cucumbers, and broccoli.
In contrast, the difference was relatively small for cabbage.
The highest and lowest prices do not mean that every item is sold at those prices.
Prices vary depending on quality, size, place of origin, supply, demand, and other factors.
As I look at the vegetables and fruit served in hospital meals, I sometimes find myself wondering,
"How much would this cost at the wholesale market?"
That is a way of looking at food that I never had before.
I also thought about eggs and chicken.
Even though transactions take place every day, the representative prices reported in the newspaper do not necessarily change greatly every day.
The prices shown in the newspaper are one way of understanding what is happening in the market as a whole.
Finally, today I also read an article about Apple's foldable iPhone.
It reminded me that some older mobile phones could also be folded.
The new iPhone has a 5.4-inch outer display when closed and a 7.6-inch display when opened.
It would certainly be convenient for people who want a large screen that they can still carry around.
For example, they can watch a video while using another app, or place two apps side by side.
But I normally use both an iPhone and an iPad.
When I think about it that way, I feel that my current style - having a small, lightweight smartphone and a larger iPad - may suit me better than having one phone with a much larger screen.
In the end, even if something is convenient, what each person needs is different.
When I read the business section, I am gradually realizing that behind the numbers for stock prices, exchange rates, and product prices are people, companies, products, and everyday life.
There are still so many things I do not know.
But realizing that I did not know something is also part of learning.
Before returning to my registered seller exam studies, I wanted to record what I learned from today's business section.
Today, I learned a little more than I knew yesterday.
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