> if the value of a stock really is primarily based on its ability to produce an external source of revenue, it would take 38 years for an investor to recoup th

> if the value of a stock really is primarily based on its ability to produce an external source of revenue, it would take 38 years for an investor to recoup the cost of a share of a company Since a minority of stocks return a dividend, then the holder of said stock likely never sees a cent of company earnings. Time duration to recoup cost of stock by P/E is NaN. The vast majority of gains from the stock market have to do with inability to invest in new ideas (on both supply and demand side). https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-publicly-traded-companies-in-the-USA-regularly-quarterly-annually-pay-dividends-to-shareholders?share=1 https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-publicly-traded-com...