Leverage in South Korean stocks is out of control: Assets under management (AUM) in South Korea's leveraged ETFs are up to a record ~$45 billion. AUM has surged +800% since the start of 2026. As a result, leveraged exposure as a % of free float market capitalization, the portion of shares actually available for public trading, is up to a record ~2.9%, more than TRIPLING since January. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong-listed 2x leveraged long SK Hynix ETF rose to ~$15 billion in assets at its peak, the largest single-stock leveraged product in the world. By comparison, four leading 2x leveraged long ETFs tracking Micron, MU, Nvidia, NVDA, Sandisk, SNDK, and Tesla, TSLA, have each never exceeded $10 billion in assets. Leverage in Korea is at extreme levels.(The Kobeissi Letter)