#. Bae Ji-hyeok, a salaried worker in his 30s, had long been unable to invest in stocks and had developed a severe fear of missing out, or FOMO. On the 15th, when the KOSPI touched 8,000, he decided he could not wait any longer. He used the savings he had accumulated, along with ultra-short-term margin trading, to buy SK hynix at an average price of 1.97 million won. That day, SK hynix hit an all-time high of 1.995 million won and was just shy of 2 million won. But the KOSPI suddenly plunged, and SK hynix closed at 1.819 million won. In just one day, Bae's shares fell 8.3%. Because he had used margin, however, his losses were doubled. Then on the 19th, SK hynix fell more than 5% to 1.745 million won. With no cash on hand to repay his margin debt, part of Bae's holdings were forcibly liquidated on the 20th. And on the 21st, as if nothing had happened, SK hynix rose 11.17% from the previous day to 1.94 million won. \r\n \r\n\r\n [Financial News] As volatility in the domestic stock market intensified, more investors have been losing money through large-scale forced liquidations. According to KOFIA on the 22nd, the amount of forced liquidation reached 145.8 billion won on the 20th. Daily forced liquidation exceeded 100 billion won for the first time in 31 months, since Oct. 24, 2023, when it stood at 548.7 billion won. Forced liquidation occurs in cash-account trading and margin trading. Cash-account trading is a form of credit purchase in which an investor borrows part of the funds from a brokerage firm when buying stocks. If the remaining settlement amount is not paid by the second business day, forced liquidation takes place. Margin trading, often called "debt investing," involves borrowing money from a brokerage firm with stocks as collateral. If a drop in share prices causes the collateral ratio, usually below 140%, to fall short and the deadline for additional collateral or cash passes, forced liquidation is triggered. The cash-account positions liquidated on the 20th were created on the 15th. That was the day KOSPI briefly touched the 8,000 level before plunging. On that day, margin loans for investments made with brokerage funding for more than 30 days also hit a record high of 36.5675 trillion won. Investors rushed into cash-account and margin trading as KOSPI reached 8,000, but the subsequent selloff left them short of margin, forcing part of their holdings to be liquidated. The amounts liquidated on the 19th and 18th were 67.6 billion won and 91.7 billion won, respectively. Over the three days from the 18th to the 20th, about 300 billion won worth of shares were sold through forced liquidation. Outstanding unpaid cash-account balances stood at 1.6421 trillion won on the 20th, down 280 billion won from the previous day. However, the ratio of forced liquidation to unpaid balances surged to 7.6%, setting a new high for the year. The ratio also came in at 6% and 4.6% on the 18th and 19th, respectively, showing a sharp recent increase. Meanwhile, Lee Chan-jin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said on the 19th that "financial institutions should respond with a high level of vigilance to practices that encourage excessive debt investing and leveraged investment." fair@fnnews.com Han Young-joon Reporter