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A daily market brief, published each morning. Markets, stocks, industry, economy, global, and policy — sorted by category.

Column·2026-07-10

[Kwangsoo's Take] Leveraged ETFs Need an Immediate Trading Halt, Not More Debate

Host Lee Kwang-soo argued that leveraged and inverse ETFs are excessively amplifying market volatility, and that regulators should halt trading first and debate solutions afterward, since the market could deteriorate further while discussions drag on. He described the world's fifth-largest market swinging 7-8% intraday as effectively a gambling floor, distorting how fundamentals and news are reflected in prices. He specifically pointed to a structural incentive to game the market: an investor who sells a large block of the underlying stock while simultaneously buying inverse-leveraged products profits more as the sell-off deepens. He noted evidence that foreign investors' recent net selling has coincided with buying of leveraged products, suggesting this dynamic may already be at play. His deepest concern was that repeated volatility could push retail investors back toward viewing Korean equities as a gambling table, eroding the healthy investing culture built up in recent years. He also noted that derivative trading volume in Korea vastly exceeds underlying-stock volume compared to markets like Nasdaq, arguing regulators should suspend trading immediately and address legal gaps and investor compensation afterward. At the same time, he stressed that this structural issue doesn't undermine the fundamentals or growth stories of Korea's leading companies, urging investors not to panic-sell. He advised against overextending into new positions and recommended setting a predetermined loss threshold with a disciplined stop-loss plan.

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Column·2026-07-09

[Kwangsoo's Take] The flawed logic behind Japan's semiconductor-decline warning

Nikkei reported that Korea's dominant position in semiconductors carries risk of US-driven decline similar to Japan's chip industry collapse in the 1980s, citing US consumer class-action suits alleging price-fixing by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, and Korea's combined roughly 60% global market share as grounds for potential US pressure to force production relocation. A host countered this as a causal fallacy. Japan's chipmakers held about 80% market share in the 1980s and did face US trade pressure, but their collapse stemmed primarily from failing to adapt to the shift from mainframe chips to PC-era commodity semiconductors — famously offering 25-year warranties on products meant for disposable PCs rather than adjusting strategy. Korean firms, by contrast, seized the commodity chip opportunity during the PC transition through cheap, fast production, and are now leading the next shift toward specialized chips (HBM) for the data center era, with SK Hynix at the forefront and Samsung following via advanced logic. The host argued that framing US trade pressure as the decisive cause of corporate decline is itself a distortion; most corporate collapses stem from strategic failure, not external pressure. The host also noted the Nikkei article relied on an anonymous Korean expert quoted secondhand, later amplified by domestic Korean media re-reporting the foreign coverage, and argued that Korea's own semiconductor expertise, being home to the world's leading firms, should be trusted over such recycled foreign commentary.

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Column·2026-07-09

[Sidong's Take] Leveraged and inverse ETFs are distorting the market — trading should be halted

The host flagged that most top-volume names on the day were leveraged or inverse ETFs rather than underlying stocks, arguing this tail-wags-the-dog structure explains the Kospi's outsized intraday swings despite genuinely positive semiconductor and AI news and solid foreign/institutional flows. Leveraged products also featured prominently among foreign investors' top purchases over the past 20 sessions. He warned the structure is exploitable: buying a stock while simultaneously buying an inverse leveraged product creates an incentive to sell the underlying to profit doubly on the inverse side, a manipulation-prone design. He noted derivative trading volume relative to underlying shares is around 2% in major overseas markets like Nvidia, versus far higher levels in Korea. He criticized regulators for expressing concern without action, arguing trading should be suspended immediately while reforms such as delisting, restricting access to professional investors, or raising margin requirements are debated. Excessive volatility, he said, is compounding retail losses and eroding trust in domestic markets, undermining healthy investment culture. Separately from the volatility issue, he reaffirmed that fundamentals and growth narratives for semiconductors and other core holdings remain intact, advising investors to set a pre-defined tolerable loss level and take a long-term view rather than panic-selling.

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