The article discusses the stark disparity in stock ownership among income levels in America. It highlights that only 0.6% of individuals in the bottom income bracket, living in poverty, invest in stocks due to limited discretionary income. With 84% of high-income households owning stocks, the contrast is significant. Moreover, 42% of Americans have no savings, emphasizing financial insecurity. The stock market primarily functions based on institutional investments, which constitute 70% of market capitalization and daily trading volume, rendering individual participation largely irrelevant to market dynamics.
The primary reason people below the poverty line don't own stocks is that they barely have a dime of discretionary income, meaning they can't contribute to GDP.
Institutions own about 70% of the total market capitalization of all stocks in the US. Individuals do own stocks, but they do little to control the market.
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