7 ms·

Investing "Gangnam Style"

58 points by khmel 14y ago

nancyhua 14y ago
Further proof that Asians are crazy. [edit] It's a joke, I am Asian. I guess I also watched that stupid video and like to play with financial instruments.
- nancyhua 14y ago
  It's a joke, I am Asian. I guess I also watched that stupid video and like to play with financial instruments.
  - khmel 14y ago
    It's not just Korea, there're similar cases in prices Chinese walnuts recently or 17-century Dutch tulips. Invstors are also people that have some behaivoral biases :) sometimes guys just get bored with their usual investment tools
    - nancyhua 14y ago
      Maybe it's actually a secret brilliant plan implemented by super geniuses- the first few people to start buying up the walnuts/tulips/DI make a killing! How else would you explain the existence and popularity of this crazy video? Maybe it was all engineered by DI or some hedge fund. We're playing right into their hands.
      - khmel 14y ago
        Maybe, there was similar cases few years ago - when shares prices go up when people started political campaigns or just made photo with President. This is what VC-guys called 'create momentum' - every investor starts to believe that smth is extremely valuable!
- josephlord 14y ago
  It doesn't take that many to move a small stock. Of those involved it certainly seems like some are crazy, others are risk takers/gamblers who hope to get out before the price comes down and some are outright swindlers. Doesn't apply in the DI case but I wonder if there are actually real commercial benefits to the political links and the chaebol links so in some cases the might be real logic to a rise in prices (which then blow up into a bubble). The commercial benefits may or may not be corrupt, raised profile may be part of it and in the chaebol cases a foot in the door to pitch a product might be a real benefit too.
- gadders 14y ago
  I listened to that song last night so I would know what the meme was all about. It is like ear-crack, and I don't even speak Korean.
  - DeepDuh 14y ago
    I agree. I'm usually one of those 'snobby' music listeners who despises pop, but that one is actually really good, especially the video is very well done with lots of little visual jokes (what with the beach image resolving in a children's playground and the toilet zoom).
    - gadders 14y ago
      When I had just seen pictures of the guy, I thought "What a tool". Now I've watched the video and realised it's a pastiche, I think it's hilarious :-)
Zenst 14y ago
Well, least PSY's dad can say he sold a chip of the old block. Either way at least some good has come out of a pop song.
- mseebach 14y ago
  Huh? So millions of people having fun with a catchy tune isn't "good" - but retail investors piling ~$100b of other people's money into a clearly massively overpriced stock because of a pop song is "good"? http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=003160.KS http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=003160.KS
  - awad 14y ago
    A retail investor invests out of their own account, so at worst the only people harmed are those who, for whatever reason, buy into this so called halo effect. The article makes a point to say that these retail investors are looked down upon by more savvy investors in Korea for this very reason. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/retailinvestor.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/retailinvestor.asp
  - kokey 14y ago
    I think pop music and bad investments both serve a very good purpose in society. It's to remove money out of the hands of those who are clearly too incompetent to have it.
  - jonnathanson 14y ago
    "retail investors piling ~$100b of other people's money" Retail investors invest their own money, which, typically, isn't too substantial per investor. "Retail investor" is really just a finance-industry euphemism for mom 'n pop with a Charles Schwab account. This is opposed to "institutional investors," which are big pension funds, trusts, and other mega-monied organizations. Or to "HNWIs (high net-worth individuals)," which is precisely what it sounds like: folks with millions of dollars of liquid capital, usually managed by private wealth management arms of investment banks or hedge funds. Both institutionals and HNWIs are perceived to be savvier than retail investors, both by the law and by the industry. I'd actually be a lot more frightened if the latter two categories of investors were piling money into this company, solely on the basis of Psy's song.
khmel 14y ago
this is example of Halo effect when our judgments of a person’s character can be influenced by our overall impression of him or her. Investors think that father's company will work well because of son's popularity
- sgentle 14y ago
  Although let's not forget that investing in a public company doesn't necessarily mean you think the company will do well, just that you'll be able to sell your shares for more than they cost. The people who predicted this effect and got in early may, in fact, be acting completely rationally.
  - khmel 14y ago
    those were very clever people who understand behavioral economics
andyjsong 14y ago
The real question is, how does one short South Korean financial instruments? DI is going to crater as soon as Gangnam Style falls by the wayside. I give it another 2 months. It still hasn't hit South America.

58 points by khmel 14y ago

Further proof that Asians are crazy. [edit] It's a joke, I am Asian. I guess I also watched that stupid video and like to play with financial instruments.

nancyhua 14y ago
It's a joke, I am Asian. I guess I also watched that stupid video and like to play with financial instruments.
- khmel 14y ago
  It's not just Korea, there're similar cases in prices Chinese walnuts recently or 17-century Dutch tulips. Invstors are also people that have some behaivoral biases :) sometimes guys just get bored with their usual investment tools
  - nancyhua 14y ago
    Maybe it's actually a secret brilliant plan implemented by super geniuses- the first few people to start buying up the walnuts/tulips/DI make a killing! How else would you explain the existence and popularity of this crazy video? Maybe it was all engineered by DI or some hedge fund. We're playing right into their hands.
    - khmel 14y ago
      Maybe, there was similar cases few years ago - when shares prices go up when people started political campaigns or just made photo with President. This is what VC-guys called 'create momentum' - every investor starts to believe that smth is extremely valuable!
josephlord 14y ago
It doesn't take that many to move a small stock. Of those involved it certainly seems like some are crazy, others are risk takers/gamblers who hope to get out before the price comes down and some are outright swindlers. Doesn't apply in the DI case but I wonder if there are actually real commercial benefits to the political links and the chaebol links so in some cases the might be real logic to a rise in prices (which then blow up into a bubble). The commercial benefits may or may not be corrupt, raised profile may be part of it and in the chaebol cases a foot in the door to pitch a product might be a real benefit too.
gadders 14y ago
I listened to that song last night so I would know what the meme was all about. It is like ear-crack, and I don't even speak Korean.
- DeepDuh 14y ago
  I agree. I'm usually one of those 'snobby' music listeners who despises pop, but that one is actually really good, especially the video is very well done with lots of little visual jokes (what with the beach image resolving in a children's playground and the toilet zoom).
  - gadders 14y ago
    When I had just seen pictures of the guy, I thought "What a tool". Now I've watched the video and realised it's a pastiche, I think it's hilarious :-)

Zenst 14y ago

Well, least PSY's dad can say he sold a chip of the old block. Either way at least some good has come out of a pop song.

mseebach 14y ago
Huh? So millions of people having fun with a catchy tune isn't "good" - but retail investors piling ~$100b of other people's money into a clearly massively overpriced stock because of a pop song is "good"? http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=003160.KS http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=003160.KS
- awad 14y ago
  A retail investor invests out of their own account, so at worst the only people harmed are those who, for whatever reason, buy into this so called halo effect. The article makes a point to say that these retail investors are looked down upon by more savvy investors in Korea for this very reason. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/retailinvestor.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/retailinvestor.asp
- kokey 14y ago
  I think pop music and bad investments both serve a very good purpose in society. It's to remove money out of the hands of those who are clearly too incompetent to have it.
- jonnathanson 14y ago
  "retail investors piling ~$100b of other people's money" Retail investors invest their own money, which, typically, isn't too substantial per investor. "Retail investor" is really just a finance-industry euphemism for mom 'n pop with a Charles Schwab account. This is opposed to "institutional investors," which are big pension funds, trusts, and other mega-monied organizations. Or to "HNWIs (high net-worth individuals)," which is precisely what it sounds like: folks with millions of dollars of liquid capital, usually managed by private wealth management arms of investment banks or hedge funds. Both institutionals and HNWIs are perceived to be savvier than retail investors, both by the law and by the industry. I'd actually be a lot more frightened if the latter two categories of investors were piling money into this company, solely on the basis of Psy's song.

khmel 14y ago

this is example of Halo effect when our judgments of a person’s character can be influenced by our overall impression of him or her. Investors think that father's company will work well because of son's popularity

sgentle 14y ago
Although let's not forget that investing in a public company doesn't necessarily mean you think the company will do well, just that you'll be able to sell your shares for more than they cost. The people who predicted this effect and got in early may, in fact, be acting completely rationally.
- khmel 14y ago
  those were very clever people who understand behavioral economics

andyjsong 14y ago

The real question is, how does one short South Korean financial instruments? DI is going to crater as soon as Gangnam Style falls by the wayside. I give it another 2 months. It still hasn't hit South America.