“It peaked at 3.5 billion won, and only 200 million was left” ... Office worker who invested in Samsung Electronics opens up about losses

[Financial News] An office worker who invested in semiconductor-related stocks, including Samsung Electronics, said that after the value of their holdings once rose to 3.5 billion won, only about 200 million won of their stock investment remained following a sharp fall in share prices and failed leveraged investing. They said they had experienced two market crashes while continuing to invest without taking profits.
Recently, an office worker shared on Blind, an anonymous online community for office workers, how they made a large paper profit through stock investing and then lost most of it. The poster, identified as A, described their investments in semiconductor-related stocks, including Samsung Electronics, and why their losses mounted.
A said they had been buying memory-chip stocks since last December and had grown the value of their holdings to about 3.5 billion won by June this year. At the time, they also considered selling all their shares and taking about two years off from investing.
They said that because they worked in the semiconductor industry, they expected share prices to rise further and continued investing without selling.
They said they had not used borrowed money in the early stages of investing. A said they bought stocks only with funds they already had until early May this year, but then began investing with leverage.
They said they were so upset they could have cried after learning that, under the company’s performance bonus payment system, their colleagues were in a worse position than they were. They said this prompted them to change their investment strategy.
After they began using leverage, the value of their assets reached a record high for a time. A said, “Thanks to that, it peaked at 3.5 billion won.”
However, the stock market plunged in July, and the value of their investments fell sharply. A said their assets dropped to about 750 million won while they held on without selling their shares.
Hoping to recoup their losses, they increased their use of leverage again, but share prices plunged in October as well. They eventually sold their holdings just before being forcibly liquidated, and reportedly had only about 200 million won left in stock investments—the amount they had set aside intending to leave it to their daughter.
However, moving some of the money they had invested in stocks into real estate helped reduce their losses, they said. During the investment period, A withdrew some funds and bought property presale rights in southern Gyeonggi. They said property prices in the area later rose, generating about 300 million won in paper gains.
Compared with last December, their total assets are now up by about 400 million won. However, they said they felt empty and depressed about having lost most of the gains they had made from stock investments.
A said the sharp drop in their investment valuation, which had once reached 3.5 billion won, had also changed their plans for the future. “All the rosy future I’d been picturing for a while has vanished. I’m so depressed I could die,” they said. “Now I’ve got just 200 million won in seed money, and I wonder what I can do in a market this unstable.”
People who saw the post commented that even large profits can turn into losses if you do not sell at the right time. Some said they were holding back from investing because market volatility had been excessive recently.
They said, “It really doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem. When your profits are soaring, the world seems easy, but that’s when it all comes crashing down,” “This market looks like madness, so even if I miss out on gains, I’m staying out,” and “Greed keeps me from taking profits.”
[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter