How a 24-year-old lost $38 billion using leverage | Episode 1

How does a 24-year-old get his hands on $45 billion of a fund, and then lose $38 billion of it in two weeks? Rich McDonald and Piers Buckworth launch The Long and Short of It, IG's new market show, by breaking down the Leopold Aschenbrener story from a risk management perspective. How leverage works, what a prime broker actually does, how margin calls happen and why the AI positioning trade got so far ahead of itself. They also cover SpaceX earnings, AMD, Palantir's 29% single-day move, and an earnings season where S&P 500 growth is running at 28.8% against expectations of 23%. Views are those of the presenters and do not represent the views of IG. Not investment advice. Capital at risk. 00:00 How a 24-year-old lost $38 billion 00:25 Welcome to The Long and Short of It 01:34 SpaceX earnings breakdown 07:52 AMD and Palantir results 13:17 Earnings season 28.8% growth vs 23% expected 19:29 How leverage actually works explained from scratch 33:22 The margin call that ended the Situational Awareness Fund 39:24 SK Hynix and why it was the death blow 40:04 What this means for AI positioning now 43:12 Where markets go from here 45:14 Memory prices and what Elon said on the call 📈 Catch more market commentary and insights on our channel. Subscribe ► https://www.youtube.com/@iguk_official?sub_confirmation=1 Find out more: https://upl.inc/k4gg8x Your capital is at risk. 69% of retail investors lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. #Leverage #MarginCall #SpaceX #AMD #Palantir #StockMarket #Investing #IGMarkets #TheLongAndShortOfIt #HedgeFund #EarningsSeason #SP500 #AIStocks