Now I've realized what I thought was so funky. It's a rather semantic issue. Markets aren't just a pipe or a screen where stuff goes through, at least in econo

Now I've realized what I thought was so funky. It's a rather semantic issue. Markets aren't just a pipe or a screen where stuff goes through, at least in economics. The market isn't just the market mechanism, but rather that mechanism plus the collection of all possible buyers and sellers at any given time. If all we have is Sally and Bob talking over the phone with their portfolios in stocks and cash, that's the market. Now, you're right that no money entered the market when Bob bought that share. But if someone who had no interest in either buying or selling stock handed either Bob or Sally $11, that would be $11 going into the market. If Bob took those $11 as a loan from Chad while Chad himself had no interest whatsoever in what Bob would do with it as long as he paid them back, that would be money going into the market. Also, I reckon I changed my initial position. But I'm also rather drowsy right now.