South Korean retail traders took out loans to buy Samsung and SK Hynix shares. The shares went down. Now the traders want their money back.
From whom, exactly? The market? God? The Samsung customer service hotline?
Leverage multiplies returns on the way up. Multiplies losses on the way down. This is not advanced mathematics. This is what leverage does. It's the entire f*cking point of leverage.
But sure, let's check the fine print on these margin accounts. Maybe there's a clause that says "only applies during winning trades." Maybe there's a money-back guarantee if you're really sad about it. Maybe if you ask nicely enough, the broker will say "you know what, you're right, this one's on us."
The technical setup was perfect, by the way. Samsung and SK Hynix formed a classic bull trap pattern on the monthly chart, which looks exactly like every other pattern because patterns don't exist and charts are just pictures of what already happened. The reversal came fast. Leveraged positions got liquidated. Traders who borrowed money to buy stocks discovered that brokers actually want that money back, with interest, regardless of whether the trade worked.
Revolutionary concept.
They're calling it a selloff like it's a surprise attack. Like Samsung shares were contractually obligated to go up forever because someone in Seoul took out a second mortgage. The technical indicator flashing red was the one where you borrow money you don't have to buy shares in a company that makes phones.
Now they want refunds. They want do-overs. They want someone to explain why the leverage that was supposed to make them rich made them poor instead. The explanation is short: you lost.
Turns out the only thing better than losing all your money is losing all your money plus someone else's money too.
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