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Then click here: sifma.org/factbook/ The amount of speculation--paper trading hands--versus the amount of actual capital raised to ostensibly grow business (or to buy back stock and not grow business) is staggering. Just the ETF volume alone is about nine times the total amount of capital raised and larger than the U.S. GDP, and that doesn't include volume on individual stocks and bonds. If one believes in buy and hold investing and that market timing is impossible as I believe folks like MJG have claimed this is not a productive use of resources. It is one trader selling an already existing share of Microsoft stock to another who then turns around and sells it to another and another ad infinitum without providing Microsoft any additional capital to grow its business. Speculation has become Wall Street's primary business, while raising new capital is secondary.
So it is... wrong thread, I mean. That got right by me too. Over in the correct thread I was kind of wondering what had happened to my smartass post, above. I put it down to advanced age and deteriorating memory... maybe I had only thought about posting.
Comments
https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/the-amount-of-etf-shares-being-traded-has-eclipsed-u-s-gdp
Then click here:
sifma.org/factbook/
The amount of speculation--paper trading hands--versus the amount of actual capital raised to ostensibly grow business (or to buy back stock and not grow business) is staggering. Just the ETF volume alone is about nine times the total amount of capital raised and larger than the U.S. GDP, and that doesn't include volume on individual stocks and bonds. If one believes in buy and hold investing and that market timing is impossible as I believe folks like MJG have claimed this is not a productive use of resources. It is one trader selling an already existing share of Microsoft stock to another who then turns around and sells it to another and another ad infinitum without providing Microsoft any additional capital to grow its business. Speculation has become Wall Street's primary business, while raising new capital is secondary.
Thanks a lot, Lewis!