Interesting read.

http://www.insidescience.org/research/study_says_world_s_stocks_controlled_by_select_few

It took a study to deduce that? I coulda' told ya' for pocket change.

Sg

That would explain why the stock market isn't reflecting what is really going on with the economy, alright.

It's a hoot daily reading the reasons posted "why" the market is going up or down by MSNBC or the loco (local) channels.

Seems the only accurate news (other than house fires and bears) is on public television.

that article isnt very specific. They dont post any numbers and Im not surprised that they would not make any predictions of where the market would go.

That fact is, when you buy stock in a bank or insurance company, they can turn around an put that money to work. If you buy a mutual fund, the fund managers can rent it out to people who trade options. Mutual fund managers keep buying the same stocks in the fund and they have billions of dollars to work with.

When you look back to the 60's and 70's you had a very small stock market. Whats left of union pensions and private pensions are also invested in stock and or bonds. Money flows to the best return, which is why there is a rotation between stocks, bonds, gold, currency and other investments.

Govt owned investments would also skew the results. China buys minerals and oil etc to feed their economy with raw materials. Cities and states have investments, and they can lose taxpayer money in the process.

Who they attribute ownership or control to are two different things. I can buy into a fund, but the manager determines what stocks are bought and what percentages are held in the portfolio.

Its deceptive just to look at stocks and think the market is controlled by a few, even percentage wise. Large cap stocks could trade 50 million shares a day, while medium and small cap stocks will move up or down based on a few thousand shares. Even after hours trading can boost a stock way up overnight when the quarterly results are presented.

Apparently, no one let Lead Eater know that Free Market Capitalism died on 10/29/1929...

...and that it's attempted revival (Thanks, GOP!) in 2001-2008 resulted in the same nightmare.

Well, I thought LeadBouncer's explaination was good and seems to fit what my non-professional impression of stock activity has been. It ticks me off that I got out of the market at it's low point, or about there, and now I refuse to buy back in until it drops again, if it ever does. To me, the stock market belies the true economic picture. The crash hurt my retirement funds (me, and most every other boomer), but unlike you, Irie, I blame irresponsible buyers who just had to have the "best", whether they could afford it or not. Simplistic? Yes. Accurate? I think so.

i can only be bitter about the current economic situation right now. i thought of myself as a hard-working, responsible person who was saving my money for a down-payment on a house(with a conventional loan) when all the morons were gobbling up real estate with ARMs and driving the market to obscene levels.

these idiots defaulted on their loans, the market crashes, and my whole industry goes tits up, resulting in me getting [censored] canned and them getting bailed out.

All you need to do is add a "p" on the end of your first name?
That's supposed to be a joke, but that just reflects how I see the clowns who got/are getting bailed out are thinking.

We are facing more cuts soon, likely both in pay and personnel. Sweet. Hang in there, Chum(p) Man. Inspite of the spendthrifts, we'll get through. :thumbs"

I always read internet fishing site posts when I really want to get the pulse of the stock market.

After all, the billionaires that hang out here after making their fortune predicting the stock market in the past are very tuned in.

So when is the DOW going to hit 6K again?

True. Additional shares being offered still falls under the ipo, otherwise, the shares I buy were owned by another private investor. (selling entity).

Ask Parker

Fish on...

Todd

Irie,

I could not completely explain every facet and relationship between every entity involved, but CNBC just aired a show on the housing and bank meltdown. Im quite sure, they will air it again. I think it was called House of Cards. Its comprehensive and they do a lot of interviews with a lot of people directly involved, including some of the Math wizzes, who put together the dirivatives (sp) and other securities that were sold directly to foreign governments, such as a small town in Norway. Many of the people who sold these "bonds" and mortgage backed securities, lost their jobs. They did not bother asking anyone, their political preference.

You will have to take this problem up with the Obama administration, because, as yet, no one is making the necessary changes to the rating agencies, like Moodys, to prevent them from overrating securities in the future. In short, this can happen again.

While your at it, ask him, about his participation in suing Citibank to make them issue more subprime loans. His influence and teachings at Acorn made it possible for them, to hassle bank presidents at their homes.

Then write to the members of the Black Caucus, who admonished regulators on tape in the hearings, about unnecessarily, causing a panic about subprime loans that were being used by their own constituents.

Then find out why Franklin Raines, (Clinton Adm) was removed from his post at Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac and look up the millions of dollars of bonuses that were awarded to him and people like Jamie Gorelick for the same kinds of subprime loans that went bad, to people who could not pay.

Then go look up the Community reinvestment act of 1977 give or take a year.

Then go pound sand.