Investing "Gangnam Style"
economist.com
economist.com
The people who predicted this effect and got in early may, in fact, be acting completely rationally.
Either way at least some good has come out of a pop song.
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.
[edit] It's a joke, I am Asian. I guess I also watched that stupid video and like to play with financial instruments.
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.
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.
It is like ear-crack, and I don't even speak Korean.
Now I've watched the video and realised it's a pastiche, I think it's hilarious :-)