Even if you buy good stocks, you'll fail if you invest with borrowed money | Cha Young-joo, Director of Wise Economic Research Institute

Summary

Cha Young-joo, Director of Wise Economic Research Institute, analyzes the current volatile Korean stock market, where a 16% correction has raised worries but the KOSPI is still projected to hit 10,000 on record corporate earnings and AI momentum. He advises focusing on leading sectors—semiconductors (Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix) and power infrastructure—while strictly avoiding margin trading and leveraged ETFs. Non-leading sectors like secondary batteries are struggling, but defense, shipbuilding, and cosmetics show relative strength, and renewables and pharma may rebound if charts confirm a bottom. He also sees a positive flow effect from the SpaceX IPO that could support US IT and Korean equities.

• KOSPI target above 10,000 backed by aggregate operating profits exceeding 800 trillion won.
• Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix remain core buys with price targets of 500,000 and 400,000 KRW.
• Power infrastructure sector is bottoming and expected to rebound on AI-driven energy demand.
• Shipbuilding and cosmetics benefit from strong exports and pre-earnings positioning.
• Defense stocks (LIG Nex1, Hyundai Rotem, Hanwha Aerospace) show chart bottoming for short-term trades.
• Margin trading and leveraged ETFs should be avoided as they are gambling in a volatile, non-trending market.
• Secondary battery sector is broken; avoid; renewables and pharma/bio need chart confirmation before entry.
• SpaceX IPO funds are expected to recycle back into US IT and KOSPI, providing a potential tailwind.