THE TAPE
Weekly Digest

How the week Felt

Jul 27 – Jul 31, 2026

This was a week of pure vertigo in chip land — a brutal, leverage-fueled crash followed by the most violent reversal anyone's seen, all while the underlying AI demand story never actually broke. Memory stocks got torched on CXMT fears, circular-financing anxiety and a genuinely bizarre SK Hynix 'record profit but stock craters' moment, dragging KOSPI into a historic 33% monthly rout with circuit breakers tripping repeatedly. Then Microsoft and Amazon's earnings flipped the script overnight, memory costs got reframed as bullish proof of scarcity rather than bearish overbuild, and Korea staged its biggest single-day rally ever. Layered on top, a hawkish-but-mumbling Fed hold spooked bonds (30-year at 2007 highs) and Apple's weak guidance stood out as the one true loser amid the chip mania. Net feeling: whiplash, leverage exposed as the real driver of price action, but conviction in the multi-year AI infrastructure supply crunch intact.

Day by Day
Monday — 2026-07-27
CXMT's 466-531% Shanghai IPO debut rattled memory stocks and ignited China-competition fears across chips.
Tuesday — 2026-07-28
KOSPI crashed ~11%, dragging SK Hynix and Samsung down 13-15% on China chip and financing fears.
Wednesday — 2026-07-29
SK Hynix's record profit (+557%) missed inflated estimates, crashing the stock and KOSPI nearly 6%.
Thursday — 2026-07-30
Fed held rates with three hawkish dissents as Samsung reported a 250-fold chip profit jump.
Friday — 2026-07-31
KOSPI exploded +18% (record gain) as SK Hynix and Samsung rocketed on Microsoft/Amazon earnings validation.
Beyond the Markets