The Stock Market

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Do you understand the stock market?

I don’t.

All I know about it I’ve learned from “Wall Street”, “The Wolf of Wall Street” or “Billions.”

I think the whole thing is a scam.

That’s my uneducated opinion.

It appears that a whole lot of money can be lost, gained or stolen.

Traders jump off buildings when things go wrong. Retirements are gambled away. Homes are lost.

So, I don’t know what to make of things when I hear:

“Stocks have tumbled because of the possibility of a trade war with China.”

Sounds bad though.

Yet I don’t actually know.

What I do know is that for a long while, over the last 6 months or so, the stock market was on the rise. The all-time high was set.

Some people were ecstatic!

And then the tax plan was passed...

...and everything seemed to tank.

I still didn’t know what was going on, but I heard that a lot of the money that the corporations saved ended up back in the market because instead of raising wages, or hiring more people...

...the corporations bought shares of their own stock to raise the prices and ensure bonuses for the big cats.

So, is it bad that when I hear that there have been record losses I think:

“Good. Someone shifting money around is taking a beating.”

Yet, it’s probably more complicated than that.

I think I should be rooting for things to go well, but those wild movies of crazy drugged out rich people are hard to love.

What does a trade war with China mean?

Will it make America Great Again?

Who knows?

I know zip.

We probably shouldn’t have such a deficit, but how much are you willing to pay for goods that were much cheaper because they came from Asia?

Will the tariffs that China has slapped on hurt the very people who cast their votes in a particular way?

It appears that they were deliberately targeted.

“It’s going to hurt,” someone said, as news broke about the tumbling stocks.

I have no idea what I’m the hell is going on, but “Billions” is a good show.

I’m rooting for Giamatti.

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