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The stock market is just a mean of transferring wealth. It won't change anything in the "real world". You're not generating value for anybody by investing in it

The stock market is just a mean of transferring wealth. It won't change anything in the "real world". You're not generating value for anybody by investing in it. If that makes your existence fulfilling, good for you. But I'd just feel a crook.

tested243 8y ago
Secondary markets exist because they give businessmen and investors incentive to create and fund risky but potentially lucrative businesses. Your view on the stock market is warped if you think investors are crooks. The stock market doesn’t deprive people of things and is simply a group of people freely exchanging what they own.
- alanfranzoni 8y ago
  I never said investors are crooks. I said that I wouldn't be satisfied by just doing stock market investing, even though that leads to more money. I want to do something that has a minimum of meaning. And i'd probably take a basic but meaningful job (plumber?) If it brought me enough money.
  - softawre 8y ago
    The point of this chain was to gain agency of your life. You don't just go work the market, you go do something meaningful and take some of the money you earn and put it into the market so you can have more agency in your life later on.
mjfl 8y ago
I would say that the stock market is a means of exchanging ownership of these exponentially growing assets we call companies, and that a public market exists for doing so is tremendously egalitarian. Any average Joe can become a part-owner of the Apple's of the world and ride with them to pre-eminence. Apparently that makes the average Joe a crook? I don't know, I don't see it.
- alanfranzoni 8y ago
  I spoke for me. I never told anybody else is a crook. But, "invest in the stock market and pretend to be happy" doesn't work for me
skybrian 8y ago
You say that like transferring wealth is a bad thing. It's not charity or particularly fulfilling, but public companies are intended to be owned by the public, which includes you. There's no reason to feel guilty about owning a share of the profits. They are going to go to someone. If anything, ownership should be spread more widely. Suppose the government bought index funds and used it to fund basic income?
- alanfranzoni 8y ago
  I don't feel guilty. But I wouldn't feel happy.
  - sinsterizme 8y ago
    What are you otherwise using that money for? If you're using it as a means to fund activities that make you happy it would be worthwhile but if it's sitting in the bank then your bank is just using it to generate interest for itself. This could instead be going to you.
loco5niner 8y ago
Sure it's changing things in the real world. And in a positive way. You are providing funds for companies to exist. Companies that pay some of the people, and provide services for other people. You also get a share of the profits. Certainly, this can be abused, but at the fundamental level, it's a good thing to have businesses that provide value. I like being able to go buy a nice computer when I want one, or going and getting some fast (or slow) food. I also like googling things. All these things are (often) supported by stocks.

tested243 8y ago

Secondary markets exist because they give businessmen and investors incentive to create and fund risky but potentially lucrative businesses. Your view on the stock market is warped if you think investors are crooks. The stock market doesn’t deprive people of things and is simply a group of people freely exchanging what they own.

alanfranzoni 8y ago
I never said investors are crooks. I said that I wouldn't be satisfied by just doing stock market investing, even though that leads to more money. I want to do something that has a minimum of meaning. And i'd probably take a basic but meaningful job (plumber?) If it brought me enough money.
- softawre 8y ago
  The point of this chain was to gain agency of your life. You don't just go work the market, you go do something meaningful and take some of the money you earn and put it into the market so you can have more agency in your life later on.

mjfl 8y ago

I would say that the stock market is a means of exchanging ownership of these exponentially growing assets we call companies, and that a public market exists for doing so is tremendously egalitarian. Any average Joe can become a part-owner of the Apple's of the world and ride with them to pre-eminence. Apparently that makes the average Joe a crook? I don't know, I don't see it.

alanfranzoni 8y ago
I spoke for me. I never told anybody else is a crook. But, "invest in the stock market and pretend to be happy" doesn't work for me

skybrian 8y ago

You say that like transferring wealth is a bad thing. It's not charity or particularly fulfilling, but public companies are intended to be owned by the public, which includes you. There's no reason to feel guilty about owning a share of the profits. They are going to go to someone. If anything, ownership should be spread more widely. Suppose the government bought index funds and used it to fund basic income?

alanfranzoni 8y ago
I don't feel guilty. But I wouldn't feel happy.
- sinsterizme 8y ago
  What are you otherwise using that money for? If you're using it as a means to fund activities that make you happy it would be worthwhile but if it's sitting in the bank then your bank is just using it to generate interest for itself. This could instead be going to you.

loco5niner 8y ago

Sure it's changing things in the real world. And in a positive way. You are providing funds for companies to exist. Companies that pay some of the people, and provide services for other people. You also get a share of the profits. Certainly, this can be abused, but at the fundamental level, it's a good thing to have businesses that provide value. I like being able to go buy a nice computer when I want one, or going and getting some fast (or slow) food. I also like googling things. All these things are (often) supported by stocks.