Korean equities are cheap and deleveraged after a 40% drawdown that did not change their place in the AI buildout. The KOSPI is down about 40% from its June 22 peak, with RSI oversold and forward P/E and P/FCF both near 5x. Oversold and cheap are not bottom signals alone, but recovery requires them. Its leading names make the memory the AI buildout runs on, and that buildout can be profitable early: Microsoft grew operating income 18% to $40.6B while spending near $190B on capex. x.com 

Korean equities have a central role in the AI trade because Samsung and SK hynix supply most of the memory it needs. Despite the shakeout, the KOSPI leads the major markets shown at roughly +36% this year. The bullish lean faces a flow warning: Korean semiconductor ETF 20-day flows fell from nearly +$4B in June to about -$703M by October 18 as the index approaches rising support. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com 

Korean equities' bigger picture is concerning because breadth has collapsed, with the KOSPI held up only by two stocks that make up half the index. The KOSDAQ has erased all its gains since April 2025 and trades near six-year lows, while the KOSPI is down 46% in six weeks after twice testing its 200-day average. A short-term bounce of about 20% to fill this week's gap is possible. x.com 

The South Korean president's alarming appeal amid the KOSPI selloff aligns with a market bottom, not a top. The KOSPI is deep in Wave C, and its pain looks nearly over. x.com 

Korean equities look near a bottom as retail investors who levered long at the KOSPI top now short it at the lows. After new rules effective July 31 raised the minimum deposit for single-stock leveraged ETFs to ₩30M, retail net-sold over ₩1 trillion of single-stock leverage on day one, led by SK hynix and Samsung products, and bought about ₩500bn of index inverse ETFs instead, led by a 2x KOSPI inverse fund. x.com  x.com 

Korean equities are in trouble when accounts that never followed the KOSPI until a month or so ago start posting about it. x.com 

Korean equities are too cheap to stay compressed, with the KOSPI now cheaper than during the 2008 financial crisis. Its companies are set to make record profits for the next five years and beyond, so the index has to shoot higher. Posts the author replies to push back that the index is mostly two companies in a low-multiple industry and that today's high cyclical memory earnings make it look cheaper than it is. x.com  x.com  x.com 

Korean equities are a long as renewed optimism about the AI trade drives a record 15% jump. x.com 

Korean equities have become essentially a two-stock index, and conditioned dip-buying there will eventually end in a lot of pain. Since March the KOSPI has drawn down 20%, 8%, 13%, 17% and now 13%, rebounding quickly each time, which trains investors to buy every dip. That can keep working, possibly for years, until the last time, and no one knows when that will be. Buying because it worked last time is not a strategy. x.com 

Korean equities' 17.91% rebound looks higher quality because foreigners and institutions absorbed heavy retail selling as leveraged ETF trading collapsed. Foreigners bought over KRW 7 trillion of stocks, about 75% in SK hynix, Samsung Electronics and related names, but barely any index futures, signaling real rebuilding. Retail sold KRW 8.25 trillion, shifting from leveraged dip-buying to cutting risk. Under new rules, single-stock leveraged ETF turnover fell from KRW 12.4tn to 3tn. x.com