In South Korea’s $4.6 trillion stock market, signs of euphoria are popping up everywhere. Enthralled by a 200% surge over the past year that has far outpaced every other market on earth, locals are borrowing record sums to amplify their bets on stocks. Trading volumes have soared to all-time highs, while daily price swings of 5% or more have become more common — making the benchmark Kospi index th...
In South Korea’s $4.6 trillion stock market, signs of euphoria are popping up everywhere. Enthralled by a 200% surge over the past year that has far outpaced every other market on earth, locals are borrowing record sums to amplify their bets on stocks. Trading volumes have soared to all-time highs, while daily price swings of 5% or more have become more common — making the benchmark Kospi index the most volatile major stock gauge worldwide. The sense of FOMO spreading through offices, lunchrooms and family gatherings across South Korea has gotten so intense that investors are increasingly buying stocks for their kids, too: Data compiled by Toss Securities show a near 10-fold surge in new account openings for under-18s in the first quarter versus a year earlier. “The mood in the retail community is very hot, nearly maniacal,” said Jang Eunjung, 37, a Seoul-based video producer whose YouTube show on stock investing grew from a tiny audience to more than 1.3 million subscribers as the market soared. “Will we ever see such a vertical rally again?” Fueled largely by South Korean chipmakers’ central role in the artificial intelligence boom, the trading frenzy has transformed a long-dormant market into one of the world’s most closely watched indicators of how far the mania surrounding AI can go. While bulls point to record profits at companies like Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. to justify the rally, the risk of a sudden reversal was on display this week. The Kospi shed about $300 billion of value in less than two hours on Tuesday as jitters that the rally is getting overheated coincided with a lengthy Facebook post from a senior official on a potential “ citizen dividend ” using excess tax on AI profits. Stocks recouped more than half their losses by the close and the government later clarified it was a personal post, not policy. “People with FOMO see others making big profits and may jump in recklessly, often using excessive leverage. But no one knows when the...
Chinese universities have significantly overtaken their American rivals in research output at one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) conferences, according to an analysis of more than 5,000 accepted papers that went viral on social media. Among the top 50 institutions contributing to the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), held in Rio de Janeiro last month...
Chinese universities have significantly overtaken their American rivals in research output at one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) conferences, according to an analysis of more than 5,000 accepted papers that went viral on social media. Among the top 50 institutions contributing to the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), held in Rio de Janeiro last month, mainland China accounted for about 44 per cent of the total, with Tsinghua University, Shanghai...
A 12-year-old boy in China who was taken to work by one of his parents literally played with fire and left an office completely destroyed. The parent, whose gender is unknown, took the boy to an office in Ningbo in the eastern province of Zhejiang on April 30 in an effort to enhance their emotional bond, the Red Star News reported. It is not clear what kind of company this parent works for. While ...
A 12-year-old boy in China who was taken to work by one of his parents literally played with fire and left an office completely destroyed. The parent, whose gender is unknown, took the boy to an office in Ningbo in the eastern province of Zhejiang on April 30 in an effort to enhance their emotional bond, the Red Star News reported. It is not clear what kind of company this parent works for. While busy with work, the parent left the boy alone in the office. The youngster became bored and came up...
Marc Rowan, the billionaire founder of one of the largest asset management firms in the world, is worried about what he's seeing in the market. At a time when the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are hitting one record high after another, Rowan said he now sees as much as a 35% chance of a major correction, or worse, in the near future. And he's not just talking about it, he's putting his money --...
Marc Rowan, the billionaire founder of one of the largest asset management firms in the world, is worried about what he's seeing in the market. At a time when the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are hitting one record high after another, Rowan said he now sees as much as a 35% chance of a major correction, or worse, in the near future. And he's not just talking about it, he's putting his money -- and that of his clients -- where his mouth is. His firm, Apollo Global Management , just reported over $1 trillion in assets under management (AUM) for the first time, yet Rowan says he is preparing Apollo for a serious downturn. Continue reading
Foreign-exchange reserves are slumping across Asia as policymakers shell out funds to defend their currencies against the spike in oil prices caused by the Iran war. The Philippines has led losses with its stockpile sinking 8.1% since the conflict started to $104 billion, while India’s dropped 5.2% to $691 billion and Indonesia’s slipped 3.8% to $146 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The d...
Foreign-exchange reserves are slumping across Asia as policymakers shell out funds to defend their currencies against the spike in oil prices caused by the Iran war. The Philippines has led losses with its stockpile sinking 8.1% since the conflict started to $104 billion, while India’s dropped 5.2% to $691 billion and Indonesia’s slipped 3.8% to $146 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The declines represent both the drain from spending to support local currencies, and a reduction in the value of non-dollar holdings. The slide in reserves adds to evidence that Asia has been one of the biggest losers from the Middle East conflict due to its reliance on energy imports. At the same time, there’s a widely held view the region is currently better placed to handle economic turmoil than it was in past episodes such as the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s or the 2013 taper tantrum. “Asian economies, including India, have built up reserves as a first line of defense — their macro fundamentals are also stronger today — but they are also typically large oil importers,” said Duvvuri Subbarao , who was governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2008 to 2013. “Also, exports which have been the main growth driver of Asian economies are going to be hit.” Asian central banks have stepped into currency markets with increasing frequency in recent weeks as surging energy costs worsen the outlook for their economies. Indonesia will make “smart interventions” in the foreign-exchange markets and deploy all of its monetary-policy instruments after the rupiah slid to a succession of record lows, a senior policymaker said this week. India on Tuesday raised import tariffs on gold and silver in an attempt to curb bullion purchases and defend its currency, as it grapples with the fallout from the Middle East war. The country is also considering other emergency steps to shore up foreign-exchange reserves, including hiking fuel prices, people familiar with the matter said this week. The ...
Political organizer Denise Powell has defeated State Sen. John Cavanaugh to win the Democratic primary in the closely watched race for Nebraska's second congressional district. (Image credit: Rebecca S. Gratz)
Political organizer Denise Powell has defeated State Sen. John Cavanaugh to win the Democratic primary in the closely watched race for Nebraska's second congressional district. (Image credit: Rebecca S. Gratz)
(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 8,650 level, with weakness in gold miners, financi
(RTTNews) - The Australian market is trading slightly lower on Thursday, extending the losses in the previous four sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well below the 8,650 level, with weakness in gold miners, financi
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington hopes to convince Beijing to play a “more active role” in resolving the Iran crisis, a clear sign the issue will come into sharp focus when President Donald Trump holds his closely watched summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Speaking to Fox News aboard Air Force One, Rubio said the Iran war was a “huge source of instability” and “threatens to de...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington hopes to convince Beijing to play a “more active role” in resolving the Iran crisis, a clear sign the issue will come into sharp focus when President Donald Trump holds his closely watched summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Speaking to Fox News aboard Air Force One, Rubio said the Iran war was a “huge source of instability” and “threatens to destabilise Asia more than any other part of the world because it’s heavily reliant on the straits for...
"Completely Insane": Federal Govt Withholds $1.3BN In Medicaid Reimbursements To California, Citing Fraud Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration will withhold $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California due to potentially fraudulent billing patterns, Vice President JD Vance announced on May 13. The action comes among a host of others taken recently to crack d...
"Completely Insane": Federal Govt Withholds $1.3BN In Medicaid Reimbursements To California, Citing Fraud Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration will withhold $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California due to potentially fraudulent billing patterns, Vice President JD Vance announced on May 13. The action comes among a host of others taken recently to crack down on fraudulent activity in Medicare and Medicaid. “We want to protect these programs for the kids and the families who need them. We want to ensure that the American taxpayer isn’t getting fleeced, ” Vance told reporters. JUST IN: VP JD Vance announces "the federal government is deferring $1.3 BILLION dollars in Medicaid reimbursements from the state of California." He adds that "California has not taken fraud very seriously." pic.twitter.com/dcyMtxqouj — Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) May 13, 2026 Analysis of Medicaid billing patterns in California aroused suspicion, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “We’ve discovered $630 million in billing from folks who are egregiously the top 5 percent of outliers in billing. These numbers are so big you can’t imagine anyone billing for these [amounts],” Oz told reporters. California itself is an outlier among states, Oz said. “In California, the growth of spending on personal care services is twice the rate of the average of the rest of the country,” Oz said. “We estimate there’s $500 million that could be a risk of being taken from federal taxpayers.” Fewer than 20 of 800 Medicare providers recently removed from the program due to suspicious billing activity have called to complain, Oz said, offering that as evidence that they likely were not legitimate providers. VP Vance responded with a double take after hearing that wild stat from Dr. Oz: "You're saying that we kicked off 800 fraudulent healthcare providers off of the Medicare system and not a single one of them called the gov...
Trump officials likely violated Francesca Albanese’s rights by imposing measures after she criticized Israel, says judge A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked US sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories, finding that the Trump administration likely violated her free speech rights by imposing the measures after she criticized US ally Israel’s war o...
Trump officials likely violated Francesca Albanese’s rights by imposing measures after she criticized Israel, says judge A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked US sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories, finding that the Trump administration likely violated her free speech rights by imposing the measures after she criticized US ally Israel’s war on Gaza. The sanctions barred her from entering the US and banking there. Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is UN special rapporteur on the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, recommended the international criminal court pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli and US nationals. Continue reading...
According to an SEC filing dated May 11, 2026, Per Stirling Capital Management acquired an additional 65,904 shares of First Trust Smith Opportunistic Fixed Income ETF (NASDAQ:FIXD) , during the first quarter. The estimated value of the trade was $2.92 million, based on the average closing price for the period. The quarter-end value of the position increased by $2.61 million, reflecting both the n...
According to an SEC filing dated May 11, 2026, Per Stirling Capital Management acquired an additional 65,904 shares of First Trust Smith Opportunistic Fixed Income ETF (NASDAQ:FIXD) , during the first quarter. The estimated value of the trade was $2.92 million, based on the average closing price for the period. The quarter-end value of the position increased by $2.61 million, reflecting both the new purchases and changes in the underlying share price. First Trust Smith Opportunistic Fixed Income ETF (FIXD) is a large-scale fixed income ETF with a market capitalization of $3.36 billion. The fund seeks to deliver long-term total return by actively managing a diversified bond portfolio, balancing credit quality, duration, and sector exposure. FIXD appeals to investors looking for consistent income and broad access to the U.S. fixed income market through a liquid, cost-efficient vehicle. Per Stirling’s addition of 65,904 shares to a portfolio that already held 354,005 shares of FIXD is a relatively small move, but it suggests the firm remains comfortable with the ETF’s flexible, actively managed approach to the bond market. Continue reading