Question for DU Stock Market Wizards

[shirlden]

How much actual cash money has been pulled from the market? What I mean is, for instance, my sister went into the market about 15 years ago with inherited cash of about 30,000.00. She left it there and a few months ago it was up to about 250,000.00.
Of course today it is worth half that. But she never took any cash out. This was all paper profit. Her original 30 grand is still there.
How do we calculate how much cash money is missing from the market? Is it possible to figure that? I have a friend who has been a "swing trader" for a few years who took all her cash from the market and put it under her mattress.....actually in a safe deposit box. So that is about 50 grand that she had in the market of cash money that is not there anymore.
Is this a stupid question or just not relevant??

Inquiring minds want to know

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. 3-10 trillion.

[Demeter]

2. A Lot of that Money Evaporated

If the paper gains were never cashed in, then the paper losses have been estimated in the range of $10 trillion in stock in the US and abroad, with a lot more in bonds and "securitized" investment vehicles worldwide.

[Double T]

3. This article might help.

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_10700993

[shireen]

5. ah, so that money was just my imagination ...

it's all a cruel joke. :(

[Double T]

14. A form of Monopoly Money; much of it isn't real.

[shirlden]

13. Thanks

I understand that "profit" may never have been real money. But....If I buy a stock for 100.00 and it goes to zero and the company folds, then I have lost my real 100.00 bucks that I paid for it. If you invest 100 and panic and sell when it is down, then you have lost real money.

Good thing I never played the market..........

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. There is no money missing from the market.

Yes, the market has lost value - but it hasn't actually lost real money in the sense of real actual dollars disappearing.

When your friends took their money out of the market by selling stocks, someone else bought those stocks with the money that went to your friends (minus a commission or two, of course).

[tama]

6. What is

"real actual dollar"? A gold coin? M1? M2? M3?

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. real as opposed to theoretical or potential money

I'm trying to make it understandable for the OP, not write a thesis on economic or monetary theory.

[tama]

9. But

in any FIAT currency system all money is merely theoretical or potential money. Purely faith-based money.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Yes, thank you, Mr. Economics God.

Anyone with a high school economics class behind them knows that.

As I said, I was trying to help the OP by making something understandable, not write a thesis with 200 pages of nuanced accuracy.

What I lose in imprecision through those terms I make up for in efficiency of information delivery, even if it is not quite perfectly accurate.

:eyes:

[tama]

11. Well

I didn't understand, so I asked. And what Mr. Economics God knows it has learned mostly from the daily DU stock market thread. :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Oh, sorry - I thought you were being a smug know-it-all jackass.

I didn't realize you were asking honest questions! Sorry!

Probably says more about me and my mood today than it does about you, so please forgive.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. How terribly unfortunate for you. n/t

[clarence swinney]

19. MONEY SUPPLY

CHECK HOW MANY SECURITIES ARE BOUGHT AND SOLD BY FEDERAL
RESERVE.

BUY=MONEY INTO MARKET
SELL=TAKES MONEY OUT OF MARKET

[MercutioATC]

7. It's not "missing", it's lost.

$6.9 trillion from the S&P 500 companies alone since October 2007.

Are you asking how much money is on the sidelines or, at least, out of equities? I have no idea.

[soothsayer]

17. It's not 'lost'----somebody has it!

[progressive_realist]

15. That's a great question

But difficult or impossible to measure, I think. Since millions of shares can change value based on small transactions, there is no easy convertibility between market values and actual money flows. Add to that the facts that much of the money used is borrowed and that some of the money entering the market is used for options, futures, etc. as opposed to long purchases, and it becomes very complicated indeed. I'm sure a formula could be worked out using some clever statistical and mathematical methods, but I'm not aware of any such comprehensive model.

[barb162]

16. You can only ask that question if you provide a reference point

date such as the high of 14,100 earlier this year. If you look at that high mark of 14,000, it's a few trillion lost.