It has happened again.

There is a legal Ponzi scheme called the stock market. It relies on a constant flow of new money, an unsustainable premise of infinite growth, the purchase of intangible assets that can be inflated by the issuer at any time, and brokers and other hucksters who promise you that stocks have always outperformed all other asset classes and you can always win if you just sink your money into a mutual fund.

 

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I didn't know silver certificates are valuable. That is why my parents are keeping some. I have a kept a few 1970-S Lincoln Cent. Does anyone know where I can exchange it for cash? I can use it some information from you guys. Any reply will be much appreciated

 

Good read condor! I always knew ss would never make it but you have enlightened me even more!

 

When you own a stock you own part of a money making company most of the time. Many stocks pay dividends and have huge cash on hand. You own part of that! How can you say that the stock market is a Ponzi scheme? The stock market does not rely on new investors. If you want to sell your shares then sure it would be nice if somebody paid more than you paid in the first place. If shares have statistically appeared like they have only increased over time that might be because the companies they are investing in have made more money over time...

 

It's worth 1 cent. You can exchange it literally anywhere in the US. For another cent.

 

Yikes!

And then, utter silence





Lucy

 

If you think you actually own part of a company with a few shares of its stock, guess again. If the company has crappy management, there's nothing you can do about it. If the company is in a suicide dive, you can be left holding the bag. And even the biggest companies are not immune-- just look at what happened to GM.

If shares have increased over time, it is not necessarily indicative that the company is making money-- in fact, companies issue new shares to RAISE money. That requires new money to enter the market. Or sometimes companies issue new shares to reward CEOs and other officers for a job that might or might not have been well done.

 

You do actually own part of the company, but it is just a very small part. If you think the company has crappy management there are two things you can do. Sell your stock and let the company go down without you. Or buy a lot more stock so you CAN have a voice in the company management.

But the stock market is not a Ponzi scheme. There are never any promises that you will make money or even be able to break even. If no new money comes in you still have your stock it still has some kind of value (although you may have problems realizing it) and in many cases the company still pays you dividends.

 

There is no way in the world where the average investor can buy enough stock in a company to have any practical say in the company's operations and management. Unless you're some corporate raider or a Warren Buffet, your paltry amount of shares will maybe get you a back-row seat at the shareholders' meeting. But shareholders' revolts go nowhere if it's just a bunch of Average Joe Investors doing the revolting. Been there, done that.

As far as there being "never any promises that you will make money or even be able to break even," apparently you have never dealt with a stock broker. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "over the long run, stocks outperform all other asset classes", I'd be a rich man.

Stocks are the ultimate Ponzi scheme.

 

I wasn't in the building when she checked out so I never even saw her. :/