The Stock Market is a Playground For the Wealthy
The Stock Market is a playground for the Wealthy
The Nomad Economist: 5-28-2022
The U.S. stocks are hovering near record levels, but many are struggling to break out of a narrow trading range to hit new highs.
One reason: Fewer individual stocks are contributing to the rally. Funny how the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq are in lockstep with one another. Word on the street is that corporate buybacks are once again the villains in the Stock Market rising as well as BTFD'ers who still believe like the '69 N.Y. Mets and Tug McGraw.
This dog and pony show has run a long time like some tired old Broadway show in New York. What we've learned is that this time is different. The Fed and Central Banks are in cahoots big time to keep easy money and liquidity intact.
The corporations get the buzz that there's free money to buy back more shares and drive up their bottom line and stock price. This rinse and repeat the feedback loop can only continue so long. 80% of all stock revenues goes to 20% of the population.
The average 401K for someone over 50 is $62K (for a monthly income of about $400 at an 8% rate of return). The stock market is a playground for the wealthy.
The stock market is overvalued; it is riding on a historical tidal wave of debt and printed money. The FED is now monetizing U.S. Treasury debt to the tune of $278 billion a month so that Wall Street will be flush with cash.
The number of stocks hitting 52-week highs had fallen since June—when the S&P 500 kicked off its last unbeaten run at a record.
Last week, 106 firms in the index set new 52-week highs, down from 293 in mid-June. This Stock Market Rally Has Everything, Except Investors
Companies keep buying vast quantities of their own shares, propelling prices higher even as pensions, mutual funds, and individuals sit on their hands. American corporations flush with cash from last year's tax cuts, and a growing economy is buying back their own shares at an extraordinary clip.
They have a good reason: Buybacks allow them to return cash to shareholders, burnish critical measures of financial performance, and goose their share prices.