[비즈한국] I’ve been thinking about this constantly since last year. Ah, should I start investing in stocks, even now? Most people had similar thoughts, and many jumped into the stock market. Just looking around me, there’s no one who isn’t investing: friends obsessed with real estate, friends with two side jobs as 'Donghak Ants' (domestic retail investors) and 'Seohak Ants' (overseas retail investors), or friends working multiple jobs to build their seed money. I still vividly remember that moment on April 2nd of last year, while having coffee with a reporter from ‘BizHankook’, asking, “Reporter, should we buy Samsung Electronics005930 right now?” The closing price of Samsung Electronics that day was 46,800 won. They say there’s nothing as futile as a "what if" scenario, but man, oh man.
Thankfully, I grew up without much want, and since I started earning my own money, it was always such a modest amount that I lived with the mindset, "As long as I have enough for drinks, that's fine." That’s why this late-blooming FOMO Syndrome (Fear Of Missing Out) feels quite unfamiliar. For someone like me who is too timid to jump into stocks easily, ‘Ants Are Working Hard Today’ is a wonderful substitute and an incredibly fun variety show. Airing every Wednesday at 7 AM on Kakao TV, ‘Ants Are Working Hard Today’ is a program where celebrities learn about stock investing with economic mentors. Economic commentator and 'SamProTV' CEO 'Kim Pro' Kim Dong-hwan and former fund manager-turned-YouTuber 'Syuka' serve as mentors. The stroke of genius lies in the celebrity cast, featuring Noh Hong-chul, DinDin, Kim Jong-min, and Mijoo (Season 1 featured weather caster Kim Ga-young).
Noh Hong-chul, who already became an icon of 'failed stock investments' on 'Infinite Challenge', provokes such desperate laughter that you’d think this program was made for him. In the first episode of Season 1, you can hear his 13-year investment chronicle; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a moment that was so sad yet so funny. He suffered devastating wounds after being swayed by an acquaintance’s suggestion to invest in a KOSDAQ-listed company he still knows nothing about, hit a near-death balance due to market trends after investing in a KOSPI company, lost contact with an acquaintance after a failed private equity investment, and later saw a -97.42% return in cryptocurrency. By the time he reached inverse investing during the 2020 pandemic, Noh Hong-chul, just as the subtitles noted, had miraculously managed to invest at the absolute lowest points of the 21st-century Korean economy, coining the term 'Hong-ban-kkul' (it's honey if you do the opposite of what Hong-chul does).
The other cast members are no joke either. DinDin, who engages in ultra-short-term trading—buying and selling within minutes rather than hours—birthed the slang term 'DinDin-hada'. Kim Jong-min, who has years of investment experience but still relies on friends’ tips by asking, "Just point out a few stocks for me," provides plenty of laughs. Mijoo, who showed the extraordinary trait of confusing her portfolio with propolis from her first episode in Season 2, is the finishing touch. With the wit of Kim Pro and Syuka, who are 'working hard' on various shows amidst the stock craze, combined with the brilliant sense of the staff's subtitles and production, ‘Ants Are Working Hard Today’ walks the perfect path of entertainment.
What’s fascinating is how it neatly incorporates stock and economic knowledge amidst the uncontrollable laughter. A 'stock dummy' who didn’t even know what red or blue candles were starts constantly searching for stocks they heard about on the show using their (barely set up) mobile trading system, and begins browsing FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) and BBIG (Bio, Battery, Internet, Game sectors) stocks. I empathized with DinDin when he lamented, "Ah, if I had just put 1 billion won into Moderna (I would have made 600 million)!" after bragging about a 66% return from investing in Moderna and Gilead Sciences without knowing what the companies did. Then, seeing him receive a -7% report card in the Season 2 finale makes you realize how dangerous hasty investments are. I’ve never seen such vivid economic education anywhere else.
Starting with its first broadcast in September 2020 when the KOSPI was in the 2,400 range, moving through the first episode of Season 2 when it hit 2,540, to Season 3 in the era of the KOSPI 3,000, ‘Ants Are Working Hard Today’ keeps going. After studying non-contact stocks while camping in Season 2, they seem set to study auto-related stocks in earnest in Season 3 after meeting and learning from Jeon Won-ju, the synonym for celebrity value investing. They still cause a ruckus when asked to analyze a company's value, claiming they'll invest because the CEO has a "good physiognomy" (though even I was convinced), but it’s certain that they subtly teach economic knowledge in a fun way. Above all, it makes you look at products in daily life and search for what that company makes and what its stock price is.
Watching 'stock beginner' Mijoo take 1st place with a 10.94% return in the Season 2 finale makes you think, "Should I try it too?", while hearing 'Kim Pro' confess that he once recorded a -70% return reminds you to be cautious. This hilarious, gut-busting program is available on both Kakao TV and Netflix. It doesn't recommend specific stocks, but it definitely guarantees laughter, so your time won't be wasted.
Who is the writer, Jung Su-jin?
She has worked at various magazines, covering and writing about movies, travel, and pop culture. She doesn't want to fall behind on trends, but has become an "old person" who watches the latest dramas only to predict the next scene based on obvious clichés. She is drifting through the vast world of OTT, trying to recover her lost instincts, and her current wish is for a unified OTT subscription plan to be released.