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The KOSPI has reclaimed the 7,000 level, but retail investors are selling instead of buying. After heavy losses in July's plunge, many now treat rallies as a chance to break even and exit rather than a signal of further gains. Against that backdrop, comedian Kim Soo-yong, who has traded stocks for more than two decades, has drawn attention by disclosing an account that bought and sold more than 40 billion won over roughly six years.
Retail Investors Sell 18 Trillion Won This Month as Index Reclaims 7,000
The KOSPI closed at 7,080.92 on the 23rd, up 63.01 points, or 0.90%, from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The index opened 1.94% higher at 7,153.99 but pared gains and briefly turned negative before recovering to the 7,080 level late in the session.
Retail investors sold a net 1.4396 trillion won worth of shares on the day, extending their selling streak to a fourth session. The selling is seen as profit-taking ahead of the Chuseok holiday, which begins the following day.
Retail selling has been most pronounced on days when the index rises sharply. From the 1st through the 22nd of this month, individuals sold a net 18.2205 trillion won on the main board. They sold 6.8374 trillion won on the 7th, when the KOSPI jumped 4.6%, and 3.6359 trillion won on the 18th, when it rose 2.66%.
Analysts say individuals who suffered losses in July's plunge are using the recent rebound to clear existing holdings rather than add to them. The KOSPI fell about 40% from its June peak through the end of July, including drops of 11% on July 28 and 6% on July 29.
A substantial amount was also bought at the highs. Kiwoom Securities estimates that individuals' cumulative net purchases above the 7,000 level this year total about 87 trillion won. Including financial investment products linked to ETFs and derivatives, potential overhang above 7,000 rises to about 111.5 trillion won.
Kim Soo-yong Traded 45 Billion Won Over Six Years. What Did He Actually Make?
As retail selling floods the market on every rally, the actual trading record of comedian Kim Soo-yong, a stock investor for more than 20 years, has also drawn attention.
In a video posted recently on the YouTube channel "Sijak Company," tied to the Netflix variety show "Ant Kim Won-hoon: The World of Stocks," Kim Soo-yong showed his brokerage account to fellow comedian Kim Won-hoon.
According to the disclosed account, Kim bought about 21.1 billion won worth of stocks and sold about 23.9 billion won worth between July 2020 and July this year, a span of roughly six years. Simply added together, his cumulative trading volume comes to about 45 billion won.
Relative to that trading volume, his realized gain was about 112 million won. Kim Won-hoon, reviewing the account, expressed surprise at the sales figure of more than 20 billion won and called Kim Soo-yong "a genuine expert and a master."
Kim said he began investing in stocks in 1999. His approach is closer to short-term trading than to holding a single stock for a long stretch. "If a decline continues, I clear it out within a week. If it isn't working, you have to sell right away," he said, explaining his own rule.
He did, however, distance himself from talk that he had struck it rich in the market. Kim has previously said that reports of large stock gains amounted to nothing more than closing out positions that had been in the red once they returned to profit, and that he had not made a large sum.
8 in 10 Retail Sellers Booked Gains, Averaging 8.48 Million Won
Individual investors who locked in profits by selling actually fared reasonably well. According to data released by Shinhan Securities in May, eight out of 10 individual clients who sold stocks in the first quarter of this year, from January through March, posted gains. Their average realized profit was 8.48 million won. The remaining 20%, who sold at a loss, lost an average of 4.96 million won.
By month, January produced the largest average gain at 6.92 million won. Investors also realized an average profit of 5.94 million won in February, when the KOSPI topped 6,000 for the first time, but that fell to 3.98 million won in March, when the war involving Iran broke out. Losses were also deepest in March, averaging 4.49 million won for those in the red.
By stock, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) delivered both the largest gains and the largest losses to retail investors. Clients who sold Samsung Electronics in the first quarter for a profit gained an average of 7.14 million won, while those who sold at a loss lost an average of 1.73 million won. Other stocks where many investors booked gains included SK hynix (000660.KS) at 5.94 million won, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) at 3.41 million won, Hanmi Semiconductor (042700.KS) at 2.54 million won and Doosan Enerbility (034020.KS) at 2.06 million won.
By age, realized gains grew larger with age. Those 70 and older led with an average of 18.73 million won, followed by investors in their 60s at 10.11 million won, 50s at 7.32 million won, 40s at 3.98 million won, 30s at 2.21 million won and 20s at 1.43 million won. By gender, men gained an average of 7.39 million won and women 3.86 million won.
