Stock guru Hwang Hyun-hee: 'I wouldn't touch the market now even with a knife to my throat — wait until year-end'

Broadcaster Hwang Hyun-hee, known as a seasoned stock and real estate investor, warned that the current equity market — rattled by extreme volatility since the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs — "is not a market for beginners" and that retail investors should not even think about entering.

Appearing on YouTube channel "Lee Hong-ryeol TV" on Friday, Hwang said, "A market that swings 7 percent up one day and 8 percent down the next is not our market as amateurs — it belongs to the pros." He added, "This is a market for skilled short-term traders, not for people who hold down a day job and check stock prices only occasionally."

When his sunbae comedian Lee Hong-ryeol asked how he would invest 100 million won ($67,800) in spare cash over three years, Hwang advised splitting it into five tranches of 20 million won each — and heading to a bookstore before making any move.

He recommended two books: "Money: Hot Love and Cold Handling" by André Kostolany and "The Most Important Thing" by Howard Marks.

"If you read just these two books properly, you will get a feel for how the stock market works," Hwang said. He then told viewers to "wait until the end of the year."

He predicted that news would suddenly break — "probably first in the United States" — with headlines asking whether the AI bubble is bursting. "I don't know the exact timing, but those stories will come," he said, adding that a correction was likely by year-end, early next year or mid-next year — a bear market with a 20 percent drop from the previous peak.

Hwang said he would start deploying 20 million won at a time once the market falls 15 percent from its previous high, and go all in at a 30 percent decline. He suggested loading up on QQQ, the flagship NASDAQ ETF, and SPY, which tracks the US S&P 500.

"I would not invest now even with a knife to my throat — this market is one step removed from me," Hwang said. "When headlines are screaming that the world is about to end, that is the moment for beginners to invest."

He stressed, however, that when that moment actually arrives, most people will still not be able to buy. "They will think prices will fall even further — that is why stocks are hard, and why you have to study," he said.

Hwang compared the stock market to a festival. "When you see a festival, you want to join in — but by the time you get there, the people who were enjoying it have already gone home, and you are left footing the bar tab," he said. "You need to be in during the preparation stage, before the festival begins."

Hwang is a comedian who joined KBS's "Gag Concert" through its open audition process and hosted segments on the show for nine years from 2004 to 2013, helping drive the program's golden era. He also appears regularly on current-affairs entertainment programs as a commentary panelist.