Elderly Borrow Money to Trade Stocks, Entire Nation Adds Leverage: 'Ant Army' Panics as South Korean Stock Market Plunges
Titled "Panic Among 'Ant Army' as South Korean Stocks Plunge After Elders Borrow to Invest, Everyone Leverages Up," this article details a dramatic reversal in South Korea's red-hot stock market. After a sustained rally toward 9,000 points driven by AI semiconductor hype, the KOSPI index recently crashed, triggering circuit breakers. The sell-off was led by major chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose combined weight in the index is over 50%.
The plunge exposed the extreme leverage and speculative behavior that fueled the boom. Individual investors, dubbed the "ant army," had borrowed heavily or used leverage ETFs to chase gains, with trading accounts outnumbering the population. A significant portion of this leveraged money came from older citizens, some of whom reportedly cashed out insurance policies to invest. ETF trading became dominated (over 90%) by high-risk leveraged and inverse products.
The correction was triggered by a pullback in U.S. tech stocks, leading to a foreign capital exodus and a weakening Korean won, creating a vicious cycle. While President Lee Jae-myung attempted to reassure markets and NVIDIA's CEO signaled support during a visit, officials like Finance Minister Ju Yeong-geun expressed concern over the dangerous "herd mentality."
The article highlights a pervasive, high-risk investment culture where everyone from office workers to retirees and even parents opening accounts for newborns sought quick profits, largely concentrated in a few tech stocks, setting the stage for a sharp and painful correction.
marsbit06/08 10:24