Here's the thing about Stocks: Unless you can live without ever seeing these stocks again because of a stock drop you shouldn't own stocks in the first place. So, unless you have diversified your investments beyond stocks you could lose everything in one day. However, the next day or the next week theoretically your stocks might recover and likely will eventually you just don't know for sure when. However, those who either stayed in or reinvested in 2009 when it dropped to around 6900 have basically tripled their investments.
However, the people who own these stocks (80 to 85% of them) are the top ten percent (income wise) of the people in the U.S.
So, this article is right it hasn't helped 90% of all Americans.
by Heather Long and Poppy Harlow @CNNMoneyInvest January 26, 2017: 1:17 PM ET
Dow reaches historic 20,000 level
As Wall Street cheered the Dow hitting 20,000 for the first time in history this week, Donna Coomer just shrugged.
Coomer doesn't have a cent in the stock market. Sure, she handles a lot
of money every day as the manager of a busy Valero gas station in
Beattyville, a small town in eastern Kentucky.
But she trusts the bank, not the stock market, with her hard-earned money.
"I have a little bit in my checking [account], little bit in my
savings," Coomer, a grandma of three who still works 55 hours a week at
the gas station, told CNNMoney.
Donna Coomer is the manager of a gas station in Beattyville, Kentucky. Coomer is part of over half of America that has $0 invested in the stock market, as research reports and surveys have found. One survey from Bankrate found that 54% of Americans have no money in the stock market.
That means no money in pension funds, 401(k) retirement plans, IRAs,
mutual funds or ETFs. And they certainly don't own individual stocks
like Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Ford (F) or Tesla (TSLA).
"For the majority of the people here, the stock market is something
interesting to look at," says Chuck Caudill, general manager of the
local newspaper, The Beattyville Enterprise.
Still, even in this "homey" town, many people had heard about the stock market doing something the world had never seen before.
"It means people's hopeful," said Coomer. She voted for Donald Trump.
She believes strongly that Trump will bring jobs back to towns like hers
in Appalachia. She might not understand what Wall Street traders do,
but she knows why they are bullish. She is too. Related: Trump vows to create 25 million jobs, most of any president
"The one positive thing about the market hitting a record high for
people back here is there's hope," says Caudill. "It's a reminder there
is still lots of money out there."
Caudill estimates about 40%
of the people in Beattyville live in poverty. The latest Census estimate
is that 54% of Beattyville residents live below the poverty line of $24,300 a year for a family of four.
On
the day the Dow hit 20,000, Lasonia Jewels (center) and her friends had
a small yard sale to raise money in Kentucky. They all survive on
disability payments from the federal government.
The day the stock market touched the big milestone, Lasonia Jewels was
sitting with two friends on a bench in Beattyville selling old lamps and
household trinkets. She needed extra cash to pay bills. Her disability
check from the government -- roughly $700 a month from Supplemental
Security Income -- doesn't go far, even in Appalachia.
"Trump remembers the little people," Jewels said, as her friends nodded. Related: The Dow's long road to 20,000
On Wall Street and in CEO executive suites, there's a lot of optimism
that Trump will cut taxes and slash regulations. Both of those moves
could have an immediate impact on the profits of many companies.
The chatter is different on Main Street. In places like Beattyville, the No. 1 topic of discussion is jobs. Trump has vowed to create 25 million jobs.
It would be the most of any president, even beating the nearly 23
million jobs the economy gained under President Bill Clinton during the
tech boom days of the late 1990s.
If there's one area of overlap between Main Street and Wall Street, it's enthusiasm for infrastructure spending.
People in eastern Kentucky like to talk about roads. Some people drive
an hour or two to bigger cities like Winchester and Lexington every day
for work. They complain about the potholes and badly patched roads.
The people of Beattyville want better roads for their community.
Building roads means more jobs, but even after the construction work is
done, they believe bigger, nicer roads will attract companies back into a
region once dominated by coal, oil and manufacturing.
"Trump's already done more in a week than Obama did in eight years," says Coomer. "He's gonna help everybody."
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