How Investing Became Cool Essay -- Internet Stock Market Essays

How Investing Became Cool Bankers and stockbrokers are not generally viewed as the most exciting people in the world. Traditionally, they have been viewed as those guys who are always reading the Wall Street Journal or talking on their cell phones when they're out in public; they wear the same white shirt, red tie combination every day of the week, and there's no noticeable distinction between work and the rest of their lives. Not exactly the kind of people you'd want to invite to liven up a Christmas party. And if you do invite them, they usually end up standing before a group of bored and confused laymen talking about hedge funds or IPOs. This was a common perception in the past, but within the last decade this image has changed considerably. The field of finance and investments has seen a considerable increase in popularity, and these same bankers and stockbrokers might even be considered cool now. The 1990s saw the climax of the longest bull market in recent history. As John Cassidy pointed out in an article for the New Yorker earlier this year, interest rates were low, unemployment was low, and thanks to the Internet bubble the Nasdaq was climbing at an unbelievable rate. To the average American, it started to become apparent that the stock market was a good place to turn to make a quick and easy profit, and the seemingly infinite growth made it seem like an almost risk-free investment. Soon everybody was talking about stocks like they were the newest and hottest fashion trend, and it was impossible not to notice. In a recent Money magazine article, Joseph Nocera says that in 1994, 34% of American households had some money in the market, up from just 10% in the 1950s, and this number climbed even further to mo... ...rk on Main Street. If you've understood everything I've said without too many visits to a financial dictionary, then you've proven my point. For the most part, the American public has been educated, and stock market lingo has made its way into everday speech. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before a diversified portfolio becomes as much a part of the American Dream as apple pie and white picket fences. Sources cited Ameritrade, Inc. 21 Oct. 2002; Cassidy, John. "Striking it Rich; The rise and fall of popular capitalism." The New Yorker. 14 Jan. 2002: 63; E*Trade Financial. 21 Oct. 2002; Internet Movie Database. 21 Oct. 2002; Nocera, Joseph. "Welcome to the Money Revolution." Money. Fall 2002: 34-38; Perkins, Edwin. Wall Street to Main Street: Charles Merrill and Middle-Class Investors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.