I am really beginning to wonder if the stock market fluctuations matter for anything short of a total economic collapse. When I graduated college a few decades ago it was "the worst job market in 25 years" - when the stock market "collapsed" in what was it 1979 - did it really change anything? Did the tech bubble burst or teh market collapse of 2008 -Enron or Lehman Brothers mean anything to anyone except the people invested in those particular stocks? I really don't think it affected me or 90% of anyone else who doesn't have an adjustable rate mortgage. So if the market goes from 10,000 to 5,000 or to 15,000 would it have any impact on me at all? I'm, not sure it would. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Do you have a 401k? Work for a company that has a retirement fund? Both invest heavily in stocks. What does a business do for operating capita? - sell stock for the most part. No capital, no business, no jobs. So a market collapse would mean a capital shortage, much like in the 30s - and what was the defining problem of the 30s? Few jobs, no money to buy homes, mass migrations, etc, etc... So, ya, stocks matter - maybe not to you personally, but they matter.
The stock market was originated for 2 reasons. 1 to scam people out of money. 2 to scam people out of money. I can assure you it will have no effect on how your garden grows.
What WILL matter is when every day people lose confidence in the system and sit down on their money. My grandmother used to tie change into the corner of a hankerchief and put it into her bra. Now I see pennies tossed onto the ground as useless. When "Joe the plumber" stops working because there is no work(no one spending money) then he will stop spending and the ball will roll on. Does Wall Street make any difference---if you let others play with your money soon they will be playing with their money(yours). Millions of investors lost untold amounts when the market slowed--it can and will happen again and again. Greed will drive it and suckers will supply it. Want to have "secure" funds then keep your money where you can put your hands on it. Invest it in real goods that will always be in demand. It does not have to be massive amounts. A little bit of money seems like a mountain if you are broke. Does it make a difference--the gub has checks in place to keep it fairly level so the wool can continue to be pulled over our eyes. Do not depend on others for your financial success/security. Think instead of letting others think for you--use your head for something more than a hat rack -- what my Dad used to tell me.
Good avice -06. The only way I see it affecting me is that my pension fund is of course invested in stocks, mutual funds, bonds etc. It is well diversified but if the whole market goes down so does the well being of my pension fund. BUT - I have never considered the promise of a pension or a social security check as a for sure thing. IF I get it that's great but I'm not betting my life on either one. Its sort of like watching politics on the evening news. They talk and talk and warn of impending doom or promise utopia - but if I turn the set off for a month and see neither the stock market report, or hear one word of politics, even national or international news - I find that I am more relaxed - the world makes better sense and I when I tune in again I have missed absolutely nothing. They are still saying the exact same things. In fact they have been saying the exact same thing for decades..... Maybe I'm just jaded. Or just maybe I've reached a point of self sufficiency / reliance on God (I know they SOUND contradictory) that it really doesn't much matter to me what happens to the rest of the world. I know I'll be just fine. Nothing that really matters has anything to do with the talking heads and spin doctors on TV. I think I have pretty well concluded that the time is better spent listening to family and neighbors instead of strangers at the other end of the TV signal.
Guess I'm lucky... I have never worked for ANY company, private or governmental that offered any sort of benefits, retirement, or 401's.... With that said, I have always watched my money, and never counted on anyone else, ever, to make money for me. I don't care if the stock market flies off into space or collapses under the bernie madoff's of "society". I have made it without them this far, why be concerned now? Now IF I owned a company and needed operating capitol, then I'd be selling stock to people, in order to USE their money for MY benefit! But that would be DISHONEST, wouldn't it?
lol dragonfly - if I were running a business and wanted operating capital I would take it out of the business profits.....
An inordinate amount of the market is made up of one stock.. APPLE. Does the stock market matter? I don't know... does APPLE matter to you? the rest is people trying to scam you. My opinion.. if you know wtf you're doing, and you want to risk it.. have it. Otherwise, stay clear and go physical. If you can't hold it in your hand.. you have bubkiss.
At one time, the stock market was a place you could invest for the long haul.....it still had risk, but over the longer term with good companies, you could be fairly sure your money would grow and outpace inflation. NOW, it's a big casino designed for the big boys and to separate the small investor from their money. Pure and simple, and why the small, 'retail' investor has left the market in droves. I've read 70% or more of the daily volume (buy/sell) is simply high frequency trading done by computers of the big trading firms ( like Goldman Sachs) to take just fractions of a cent per share on each trade and execute the trades in seconds. For the small investor, or even many institutional investors ( pension funds, mutual funds ), it's a rigged game. When you look at the overall return for the LAST TEN YEARS, it's been less than the rate of inflation for the market as a whole ( yes, IF you bet on the right horse, you 'might' have done better ).....meaning the only ones making money are the brokers, who get a commission on buy and sell, or the HFT ( high frequency traders ) who manage to squeeze profit out of huge volumes of trade over very short time periods. The only place to "invest" now is land, tools, guns, ammo, precious metals, and so on.....stuff that has actually proven to hold value in a world where paper is simply being created out of thin air to "value" things. If you're saving in any kind of paper promises ( cash, CD's, stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares, etc ) denominated in "dollar" terms for the long haul, you're in for a total screwing....because All of it is going down in flames at some point.
