The Dow hit a 5-year high today . . .

[ProfessionalLeftist]

. . . Expect the media to grind on about the "bad" jobs report (which would be a hell of a lot better if Republicans wouldn't keep obstructing the President's jobs bill).

Thank you Barack Obama, for keeping GM alive, getting bin Laden, getting us out of Iraq, repealing DADT, passing the ACA (and protecting women's health care in the process), increasing vehicle mileage standards, passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, for extending the life of Medicare WITHOUT fundamentally changing the program and WITHOUT cutting benefits, and for pulling America out of the ditch the Bush Administration drove it into. It's not all the way back on the road yet but the FORWARD progress looks good.

And thank you Joe Biden for the VAWA. Just wish the pro-rape, pro-wife-beating party would stop obstructing it, too.

[kentuck]

1. Good news!

I guess?

[quinnox]

2. I wish I owned stock

I know that many wealthy folks make a lot of money in the stock market, they have the kind of capital required to take risks.

[GentryDixon]

3. If you have a 401k through your work, you probably do. nt

[former-republican]

4. You don't have to be wealthy to buy some stocks

The secret to making money is buy low sell high.

Psst... just don't tell anyone you heard that from me.

[quinnox]

6. lol, good advice

[Ron Obvious]

15. You might be surprised...

You might be surprised by how many people buy high and sell low. They buy a stock when it's the new hot stock everyone's talking about and then sell in a panic when it starts to go down. Seriously, I've known lots of people like that.

Me, I buy value stocks (preferably dividend-paying) and never look at their current value.

I'm old-fashioned that way.

[Art_from_Ark]

21. Stock market history is littered with stocks that never lived up to their potential

Remember all those tech stocks of the late '90s that had high IPOs and then tanked after that?

And so-called "value stocks" that pay dividends can go into the crapper just as easily as penny stocks. Remember GM? CitiGroup? Woolworth's? Even Enron was at one time considered a "value stock".

http://www.smartmoney.com/taxes/income/writing-off-that-enron-stock-12918/

[earthside]

5. Exactly why this in NOT a big deal for most voters.

I know that the Obama campaign and some Democratic candidates are trying to use the Dow as an example of things being better than they were four years ago.

But most people don't own stock so this is meaningless. Even if you have a 401K it is very dependent upon the particular situation.

A lot of folks got out of the market after the crash. Some stocks have just not comeback like the ones that make up the Dow index. If you are not going to retire now or very soon ... what difference does it make?

And we all know that 99 percent of Dow trading is done by about .0001 percent of the population.

Use the Dow as example if you want, but for most working and unemployed folks, it doesn't mean anything.

[lastlib]

9. I think you would be amazed at the percentage of Americans who do own stocks....

...one way or another. Whether thru a retirement/ESOP plan at work, or a mutual fund, or an insurance policy, or outright ownership, I would venture to guess that three-fourths of Americans hold some stocks. Even if you just put all your money into a savings account, your bank is probably doing some investment with your money that entails some stock ownership.

Why IS it a big deal for most Americans? Because the health of the whole economy is tied to whether or not the companies that issue stock are making money, ie profits. If they are, those profits translate into stock market gains. A substantial portion of those gains get distributed back to the owners, who can either spend them, save them, or re-invest them.

(Oh, God, I'd better shut up, or I'll start to talk like a repuglican....)

[cbdo2007]

11. "a lot of folks got out of the market after the crash".....hahahahahahahahaha

That may be the biggest financial mistake of their entire lives. Really, getting out of the market during a crash is ridiculously stupid.

Even if you don't own stock, if you ever purchase any product made by a company that is in the stock market....then you benefit indirectly from those companies doing well, which is what happens when their stock price goes up.

I know, that is an extremely simplified look at how the economy works in relation to the stock market, but long story very short, it's better for us all when it is up rather than down.....not just rich people.

[central scrutinizer]

8. it helps me, too

I make about 35K per year, but live within my means. I always pay myself first by having money taken out off the top and put into a 403B account. I do this every month and by being patient and not panicking have done OK. Thanks to the stock market recovery, I have made almost as much through my investments as I have from my salary this year. Of course, 2008 was a different story but then my monthly contributions bought a lot more and are paying dividends now.

[riverbendviewgal]

7. I may be wrong on this but I thought I read

once that the economy of the country usually reflects the stock markets but in a 6 month delay...

So does that make it that in March the country will be doing a heck of a lot better?

[Honeycombe8]

14. I think it's that the stock market reflects the economy...usually.

But not always. Sometimes the stock market acts screwy for unknown reasons. One huge purchase or buy by a mega rich person or company can actually swing the market.

[mick063]

12. Only confirms one thing

Last edited Wed Sep 12, 2012, 12:32 AM - Edit history (1)

There is truth to the capital strike as the "job creators" are not "trickling down" jobs.


There is no reason to be happy unless you are the 1%.

A five year high for the DOW with 8% unemployment.

Those dirty, rotten, selfish, bastards.

[Honeycombe8]

13. Here, here! I second that emotion! nt

[B Calm]

16. If I'm making good money again,

why in the hell would anybody vote to put back in power the ones who caused the mess 5 years ago?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Democratic Presidents better for stocks 46% versus Republicans 17%

[ProfessionalLeftist]

18. Yep. Darn commie socialist Wall St. hatin' Obama...

[Populist_Prole]

19. Mixed feelings

I'll be positive at first and say the good is good in that it blunts conservatives abilities as painting President Obama as "an anti-business soshulist" or whatever the troglodytes want to hang on him.

The bad is much like many others have stated on this thread so far. To me it underscores the increasing financialization of our economy of today, and while many of us have 401K's ( including me ) I just can't shake the feeling that wall street's gain is some working class person's loss. That is; what's good for them is not necessarily good for you.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

20. I agree. I suppose I consider it a good thing

becuse of the first thing you mentioned. I realize it doesn't help the 99% a whole lot. But it does help blunt the " commie, socialist, business-hating" meme from the Repigs.