How much loss can you bear in a falling market | Hong Seon-ae, Lee Da-sol, Meritz Securities Gangnam Premier Center Branch Managers

Summary

Lee Da-sol, branch manager at Meritz Securities Gangnam Premier Center, discusses the sharp KOSPI correction that started from leveraged ETF unwinding and supply events. She argues that the AI investment theme is not broken, with no fundamental damage yet, and believes the cheaper valuations present an entry opportunity in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. She also highlights that pension fund selling has eased and foreign selling intensity is lower below KOSPI 7,000. Looking further ahead, she suggests monitoring beaten-down consumer stocks as AI-driven earnings may eventually boost consumption, and emphasizes the importance of personal loss tolerance in volatile markets.

• The recent sell-off was driven by single-stock leveraged ETF unwinding and supply rebalancing, not by AI theme deterioration.
• Lee Da-sol believes the AI investment cycle (zeitgeist) remains intact, with evidence that Meta will increase capex rather than cut.
• Investors await big tech earnings from July 22 to confirm hyperscalers' capex plans.
• Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have become more attractively priced after the correction.
• Pension fund selling has eased and foreign selling intensity has diminished below KOSPI 7,000, supporting the index.
• Consumer stocks, though not part of the current AI theme, could become opportunities later as corporate earnings translate into wage growth and spending.
• She advises investors to define their maximum bearable loss to avoid panic decisions during volatile periods.