Widespread retail adoption of high-leverage ETFs in South Korea is not just a financial trend but a social one. It's linked to a national loneliness crisis and financial nihilism, where young people, locked out of traditional security, take extreme risks in a desperate search for a financial lifeline.
Financial fraud follows market cycles. It proliferates during booms but is rarely prosecuted because high stock prices create a political shield. The downturn acts as the true prosecutor, as investigations only begin after investors have lost money and demand accountability.
Companies buying AI infrastructure capitalize the expense over 5-10 years, while sellers like NVIDIA recognize revenue immediately. This accounting discrepancy creates an illusion of higher S&P profitability, as the same dollar contributes more to profits than it does to expenses on paper.
Leverage is attractive on the way up but brutal on the way down. Its true danger isn't creating new risk, but eliminating any room for error in an investment thesis. This lesson is repeatedly and expensively learned by each new generation of investors, as seen in recent market collapses.
Many people, including investors seeking a life-changing trade, operate under the mirage that happiness is a future state achieved after accumulating success. The reality is that well-being is a capacity to be present and content now, not a destination to be reached later.