Anyone who either reads the business pages of news papers or watches televised business services such as that broadcast by the U.K.s BBC, at various times throughout any week day are bombarded with details of the stock markets, and little else where businesses are concerned.. Many people will read the news papers or watch the programs in the belief that the information gathered from them will give them an insight into how the economy is doing. After all, much of our economy is dependant on how businesses are performing . Unfortunately any one who believes this is being totally misled. Whether the presenters and columnists are trying to mislead the public, or they have just been misled themselves into believing the 'information' they broadcast to us is probably dependant on the individual broadcaster or columnist. However to the dismay no doubt of many investors, share prices in the stock markets can go up and down for a number of reasons which have absolutely nothing to do with the performance of the business they relate to. Also, often a business journalist will pass off a rise in share prices as an improvement in the economy. This is absolute nonsense.Values of businesses are determined by stock brokers. Stock brokers will use any reason which will trigger off other stock brokers to buy shares in a company. Also, the money they use to buy the shares is not their own, as it belongs to the investors into pension funds and ISAs and other types of investment account. Those investors are not representative of the economy. This is because the less wealthy do not have a pension plan or a mortgage, therefore no endowment, hence no investment for stock brokers to invest. The money stock brokers use is unlikely to come from the less wealthy in the economy. Share prices could therefore rise as a result of those with pension plans increasing their investments. Okay, so then maybe when there is an increased amount of money in the stock markets as a result of increased investment in pensions (This could happen during a property market slump, when sales of property is re-invested ). It may reflect an improvement in the amount of savings the wealthy half of the economy are able to invest. That's great, but the thing is this is not business news, because no business had anything to do with it. But some ones shares will go up in price regardless because there is a pile of money which needs to be invested, and there is not much point in putting it into property at the moment (2011). If you are unemployed and the media tells you that employment prospects are growing because share prices are rising, don't pin your hopes on any major improvements in finding a job.
So why would the BBC and other similar international broadcasters and news papers give you this, what seems to be misleading information?
There is only one simple answer to this. Our financial system and the stock markets (that is the world banking system and stock markets), though flawed, are treated like a religion by many bankers, politicians and the media, which all thrive off this industry. It is also vulnerable. To merely question it adds to its vulnerability...
The current financial system has stumbled along fairly unchanged for many years, because the bankers, politicians, and the media have convinced the public that it worked and created good for all. Unfortunately, events that first surfaced as far as the general public are concerned in 2008 and have had continuing devastating affects on the world economy ever since are showing no signs of improving. Stock markets are very prominent whenever there is bad news about the economy. Maybe it is time for individual investors to decide the destiny of their investment instead of simply handing it over to bankers and stock brokers to invest in quick gain, short term investments. Ofcourse if this happened, that is if the public were to find a way which could help them to invest money in a safe place and where it could help people to build new homes thus creating jobs without going through the stock markets, this would create new market conditions for the stock markets to operate within. There would be less money for all the stocks shares and there would be the inevitable down turn in the sacred stock markets. But then, isn't the free market economy that is always promoted by many media provided so called 'economists', 'business experts', 'investment advisers' and bankers all about making your own choice? The Stock Markets are potentially vulnerable to what is apparently their biggest selling point. A free market. Which would explain why there is an army of spokes persons in all areas of the media to defend them.
No comments:
Post a Comment