[lbo-talk] Looking for statistics on Speculative versus Real Stock investment (?)

[Jordan Hayes]

> I've heard from various secondhand sources the "fact"
> that the majority of all that volume traded on wall
> street is merely speculative, rather than real wealth
> (i.e., wealth that is immediately used to build capacity,
> buy machines, build factories, etc).

Technically, "100%" of the volume on the public stock exchanges is 
speculative.  Companies don't use exchanges to raise capital, they use 
the existence of public markets as an indication of what people can do 
with their shares once they buy them in a initial or secondary public 
offering.

The shares that change hands in an IPO or a Secondary offering do not 
trade on the exchange: they trade directly with the company.

/jordan