Poll Shows Investors Distrust

The latest poll run by CNBC and AP shows widespread investor distrust of the stock market. Here are some bullets:
61% said the market’s recent volatility has made them less confident about buying and selling individual stocks.
55% said the market is fair only to some investors.
More than 60% said they had paid attention to news reports about swings in the stock market.
Among those with assets of at least $250,000, more than half blamed computerized trading for the big swings, compared with about a third of those with a net worth of less than $50,000.
Nearly 90% of those with portfolios of less than $50,000 said the market is unfair to small investors.
More than 75% of investors worth at least $250,000 say the market is unfair to the little guy.
Just 8% expressed strong confidence in regulators. Half expressed little or no confidence, including 16% with no confidence at all.
Asked to rate six investment options as a way to build wealth, mutual funds were the favorite, with 62% calling them a good investment.
ETFs finished at the bottom, endorsed by just over a quarter of those polled. About half had no feelings either way about these funds.
Drawing the highest number of negative reviews were real estate and savings accounts. Both were considered bad investments by about 1 in 4 people.
About three quarters of those earning at least $100,000 annually rated mutual funds as good investments, compared with 58% of those making less than $50,000.
As for individual stocks, more than 60% of investors with assets of $250,000 or more favored them, compared with less than half of those worth under $50,000.
Sixty percent of those with investments worth less than $50,000 liked savings accounts, compared with 35% with assets of $250,000 and up.
Nearly 80% of those surveyed said the best way to make money in the stock market is to buy stocks and hold them for a long time before selling.

Posted by on September 14th, 2010 at 9:46 am


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