Recently, I observed a quite surreal phenomenon: Korean parents are actually buying stocks for their babies the moment they are born. No joke, they are opening accounts remotely using their phones in hospitals and directly placing orders to buy shares of SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. At first glance, it sounds like a fairy tale, but there is a very practical logic behind it.

South Korea’s inheritance tax and gift tax policies provide space for such operations. Minors have a tax exemption of 20 million won every 10 years, which increases to 50 million won after reaching adulthood. Smart parents exploit this loophole, transferring assets from birth—buying stocks for their children instead of giving cash directly—because gift tax is based on the value at the time of gifting, and subsequent asset appreciation is not taxed separately. As a result, by the time the child turns 30, they can legally receive a large amount of assets tax-free. According to data from Korea Securities Depository, by the end of last year, there were over 340k minor shareholders, with a total shareholding value of about 2.68 trillion won.

But the real driving force behind this is that the Korean stock market is experiencing an unprecedented semiconductor super bull market. Last year, the Korean Composite Index surged over 56%, with the KOSPI even surpassing the UK, ranking as the eighth-largest capital market globally. All of this stems from the skyrocketing of two semiconductor giants—SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. SK Hynix’s stock price has increased by 97.54% this year, and Samsung Electronics by 83.90%. The reason for their explosive growth ultimately lies in the explosive expansion of the AI industry.

AI large models require parameters in the trillions, demanding massive high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for loading. SK Hynix holds a market share of up to 62% in this field, establishing itself as the absolute leader. Samsung Electronics is not to be outdone, having launched mass production and sales of HBM4 for NVIDIA, with its storage business setting historical records—quarterly sales doubling.

Investors’ frenzy is even more astonishing. Koreans are not content with simply buying stocks; they love leverage, especially those 3x and 5x leveraged ETF products. Margin financing balance has broken through 34 trillion won for the first time, setting a new record. The government and brokerages have tried to cool down the market, but investors’ enthusiasm for borrowing to speculate on stocks is unstoppable—margin balances hit new highs the next day. In their view, this is an unprecedented bull market: the more they borrow, the more they buy, and the more they earn.

Similar stories are unfolding in Taiwan. TSMC’s stock price hit a record high, accounting for 40% of Taiwan’s total market capitalization, supporting the entire market. Behind the strength of Taiwan and Korea’s stock markets is the same trend—Goldman Sachs’ “HALO assets” concept. This refers to physical assets that are difficult to replace and unlikely to be disrupted by AI, such as energy, basic resources, transportation infrastructure, and high-end manufacturing. The chip manufacturing industry represents both HALO assets and the “sell-shovel” role in the AI wave, giving it a dual identity that makes it a new darling of global capital.

Global capital is undergoing a large-scale rebalancing, shifting from US financial assets to real assets outside the US. More and more people realize that energy security, national defense security, and supply chain security are the true survival issues for nations.

However, amid this global investment frenzy, some remain sober. Warren Buffett recently admitted that the current investment environment is not ideal, and Berkshire Hathaway’s record cash holdings of $397 billion are waiting for the right buying opportunity. His successor, Ajit Jain, also emphasized that AI should not be pursued for its own sake; AI must create real value for businesses.

Legendary investor Howard Marks once said something interesting: buying good assets at the peak of optimism often signals disaster. While the world is embracing HALO and AI, maintaining a bit of calm in this scarcity feast has become the rarest quality. Some are buying stocks for babies, others are frantically borrowing to speculate, but Buffett is quietly counting his cash. No one can predict how this game will end.