SEOUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Lee Seung-ho watched the nearly 300 million won ($202,515) stock trading fortune he built with a 500% margin loan evaporate in just four weeks in May, but he plans to borrow again and return to the market the moment he has enough capital.
The 24-year-old South Korean university student in Seoul briefly turned the 20 million won he saved during mandatory military service into a 15-fold windfall, all by tapping a "tiny circle ***** on" on his trading app that instantly unlocked five-times leverage.
Then the market turned.
Violent swings in South Korean stocks triggered a cascade of forced liquidations by his brokerage, wiping out the gains. Within weeks, his account had fallen below his initial investment, leaving him under such strain that he said: "I literally could not breathe."
"But I'm sticking to margin loans," Lee said from his studio apartment, barely larger than a parking ***** e, next to an empty Hibiki whisky and an unboxed electric fan gifted by his brokerage after he qualified as a VIP client.
The 24-year-old South Korean university student in Seoul briefly turned the 20 million won he saved during mandatory military service into a 15-fold windfall, all by tapping a "tiny circle ***** on" on his trading app that instantly unlocked five-times leverage.
Then the market turned.
Violent swings in South Korean stocks triggered a cascade of forced liquidations by his brokerage, wiping out the gains. Within weeks, his account had fallen below his initial investment, leaving him under such strain that he said: "I literally could not breathe."
"But I'm sticking to margin loans," Lee said from his studio apartment, barely larger than a parking ***** e, next to an empty Hibiki whisky and an unboxed electric fan gifted by his brokerage after he qualified as a VIP client.
3 months ago
