Margin lending in Korean equity markets reached a record KRW 36.47 trillion as of May 15, up 33.66% from year-end 2025, as retail investors borrowed heavily to chase the KOSPI's approximately 70% year-to-date gain. Short-selling balances simultaneously surged 67.18% to KRW 20.58 trillion, near an all-time peak, prompting securities firms to warn of potential cascading forced-liquidation events.
Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B), has invested approximately $2.8 billion in Delta Air Lines ($DAL) despite surging fuel costs pressuring the sector — a direct reversal of Buffett's 2020 pandemic-era exit from all airline positions. On the same day, Appaloosa Management disclosed it had sold its entire positions in Delta, American Airlines ($AAL), and United Airlines ($UAL).
Anthropic has raised $30 billion in its latest funding round led by Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, and Altimeter Capital — each contributing at least $2 billion — lifting its valuation to $900 billion and overtaking OpenAI's $852 billion private-market valuation. The company's annualized revenue has reached approximately $45 billion, a fivefold increase from the $9 billion pace at year-end 2025.
US April import prices surged 1.9% m/m on May 15 — nearly double the +1.0% consensus estimate — while Iran-nuclear-deal impasse kept the Strait of Hormuz shut and sent oil up 3%-plus. The S&P 500 closed at 7,408.50 (-1.24%) and the Nasdaq fell 1.54%. The 10-year Treasury yield surged 116 basis points to 4.54%, its highest level in nearly a year, and markets now price a 50% probability of a Fed rate hike before year-end.
OpenAI has launched a personal finance dashboard for ChatGPT Pro users in the US, integrating with Plaid to connect bank accounts and provide spending analysis and financial insights.
LY Corp and Bain Capital sweetened their bid for Japanese price-comparison and restaurant-review platform Kakaku (2371.T) to ¥3,232 per share, valuing the company at approximately $4 billion and topping EQT's competing offer of ¥3,000 by 7.7%. Kakaku shares rose to ¥3,450 on the news. LY cited AI's rise as making Kakaku's data and platforms of extremely high strategic value. EQT's tender, backed by major shareholders Digital Garage and KDDI (38.1% combined), remains live.
Alibaba Group posted an operating loss of CNY 848 million in its FY2026 results announced May 14 — its first operating loss in at least four years. Revenue of CNY 243.4 billion grew 3% YoY but missed the CNY 247.2 billion consensus. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates Alibaba is directing ~90% of e-commerce revenue into its Qwen AI model. $BABA fell 3.22% to $141.12 on the day.
The Korean won fell through the critical 1,500 per dollar level on May 15, reaching 1,500.2 at 2:13 PM KST — the first breach since April 7. Japan's 10-year JGB yield surged to 2.72%, a 29-year high, triggering risk-off sentiment across Asia, while fading Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations and KRW 5 trillion-plus in foreign equity outflows compounded pressure on the Korean currency.
South Korea's KOSPI crossed 8,000 for the first time in history on May 15, peaking at 8,046.78 before a circuit breaker was triggered as KOSPI 200 futures fell more than 5%. The index closed at 7,493.18, down 6.12%, as foreign investors dumped a net KRW 5 trillion in a single session. Retail investors' seven-day, KRW 30-trillion buying streak could not offset the outflow, while KB Securities raised its KOSPI target from 7,500 to 10,500.
South Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 7,981.41 on May 14, its second consecutive all-time high, bringing the 8,000-point threshold within 0.24%. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the rally as Nvidia's H200 China export authorization spotlighted Korean HBM suppliers as direct beneficiaries; the National Pension Service added roughly ₩50 trillion (~$36 billion) in two weeks.
The United States approved approximately 10 Chinese companies to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI accelerator — the second-most powerful chip in Nvidia's lineup — marking the first meaningful relaxation of semiconductor export controls since 2022. Nvidia stock rose about 2%, and Korean HBM suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rallied on the downstream demand implications.
Cisco posted Q3 FY2026 revenue of $15.841 billion (+12% YoY) and GAAP EPS of $0.85 (+37%), beating expectations and pushing shares more than 15% higher toward an all-time high on May 14. CEO Chuck Robbins announced the elimination of approximately 4,000 positions to fund an accelerated pivot toward AI infrastructure.