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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to wonder why there isn't a single thread about the stock market ?

89 replies

MrGin · 10/08/2011 17:04

there are threads about knickers, threads about politeness ( or not ) , lots of threads about riots, threads about lunch venues, threads about holiday wardrobes.

But not a single one about the fact the global stock market is currently dropping like a stone.

Is this not an important issue ? Do mums not get involved in these discussion. Or is there a financial section of MN I' missing. Is no one worried ?

Actually there is one thread on chat about banks, but that turned into a personal attack on a personal issue.

I'm by no means a financial wizz ( far from it ) but even when I see stock markets falling 6% , 5% in a day on consecutive days I can't help but thing something rather bad is happening right now.....

OP posts:
GypsyMoth · 10/08/2011 17:05

go to 'in the news' and start one then!!

tethersend · 10/08/2011 17:06

There is now.

AuntiePickleBottom · 10/08/2011 17:06

i just don't undertand the stock market

LadyThumb · 10/08/2011 17:06

MrGin - most people only worry about the stock market when it actually affects them, i.e. their house price drops off a cliff, or food prices rise.

nickelbabe · 10/08/2011 17:09

the stock markets are falling because it's been on the cards for a long time now.

people are just fed up with finances now, i think.

we're just fed up with being told everything's rosy when we can see it's not, and we're fed up with paying over the odds for things that should be cheaper (and would be if the government would realise that most prices are directly linked to their stupid fuel taxes)

and the stock market is jsut intangible numbers to most people - if the stock market didn't exist, we would be better off as a whole.

AgentZigzag · 10/08/2011 17:09

Because most people find this part of the financial world as dull as ditch water

Maybe 'they' made it like that so they can get up to all sorts, same as politics Wink

izzywhizzyletsgetbusy · 10/08/2011 17:13

Possibly because it's too depressing and awful to contemplate?

Many of us (myself included) have adopted the typical posture of an ostrich until we find ourselves in that particularly upbeat frame of mind where even the most disastrous news can be processed with equilibrium, if not brio.

EdithWeston · 10/08/2011 17:16

nickelbabe: everyone here who expects to be relying on a private pension could be affected by this. The biggest "losers" will be the big pension funds.

If you are young, this isn't an immediate concern - plenty of time for recovery (and if you have canny fund managers, they'll be buying now - but it's August, so will they be there or using an automated system?).

But there is potential - especially if recovery is a long time in coming - for annuities to become much less generous.

MsAnnThroppy · 10/08/2011 17:17

I think people care, but feel powerless. The stock market and the machinations of traders is pretty baffling.

Besides, investment banker thugs wear suits and are generally viewed as upstanding members of the community, and they don't get prison sentences for effectively looting someone's pension fund. Personally, I blame their parents.

MardyBra · 10/08/2011 17:17

What about this thread?

It's discussion of the day.

empirestateofmind · 10/08/2011 17:17

Unless you are going to sell your stock a drop in prices can be seen as an opportunity to buy at better prices.

You get the same dividends but for a smaller outlay.

It all depends whether you are holding shares for the short term or the long term in my opinion.

Of course it affects companies in different ways, but that is how it affects the average private investor.

(I think it is a shame that financial literacy isn't taught in schools as it would help people to make their money work for them)

MardyBra · 10/08/2011 17:19

Sorry, just reread your OP and saw that you'd seen that thread.

CaptainNancy · 10/08/2011 17:20

There is a 'Money Matters' section, and an 'Investments' section.

Original poster
MrGin · 10/08/2011 17:21

MardyBra

yes , that's the one that turned into an unpleasant argument between a couple of posters about a totally unrelated subject. And to be fair it isn't about the plummeting stock markets, it's about the banking crisis.

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a pessimist. I can't help thinking 'this is it' the second great depression.

OP posts:
empirestateofmind · 10/08/2011 17:22

MardyBra- that thread starts off well but seems to degenerate into self sufficiency, rationing, floods and keeping chickens Grin.

Original poster
MrGin · 10/08/2011 17:23

CaptainNancy.

yes. i should have looked in there.

But if the markets keep going down it will affect all of us, not just those with investments.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrGin · 10/08/2011 17:23

It was a fun thread when it was about chickens.

OP posts:
Callisto · 10/08/2011 17:26

It is typical of MN though. It used to suprise me too. It's ashame too because there are some really well-informed and insightful posters who know lots about the economy and economics.

However, in this instance, I think that everything in the news has been overshadowed by the riots. The other threads (clothes, gossip etc) are light relief from a terrible situation. I've been hanging around in the tack room far more than usual.

DioneTheDiabolist · 10/08/2011 17:27

That's the thing Edith, this has a massive impact on the young as older people will be unable to retire and this will be yet another contributor youth unemployment.

MardyBra · 10/08/2011 17:29

DH works in Finance. I do have a business background but am taking a back seat career wise. I discuss the stock market with him when he gets home, but I hang out on MN for entertainment generally so avoid topics like finance and politics. I do, however, recognise that it is a very important issue. There's just not much I can add to the debate apart from "shit the stock market is falling".

nickelbabe · 10/08/2011 17:30

Edith - i didn't say it didn't affect any of us - I said that most people don't understand it. :)

I know it affects us - it's just a shame that it's so inaccessible to most people.

GnomeDePlume · 10/08/2011 17:36

The stock market is falling because all the proper grown up traders are on holiday. The dealing is now being done by computer programs and the tea boy. The stock prices go a bit haywire every August.

Very shortly the dealers will return tanned and refreshed to sort out the mess.

The vast majority of investors are pension funds which are in it for the long run.

That's my take on it anyway, now back to the lunch, manners and wardrobe threads!

EdithWeston · 10/08/2011 18:26

Sorry nicklebabe - I must have over-interpreted the "if the stock market didn't exist, we would be better off as a whole".

And Dione you're spot on about potential knock on and long term effects. (I was thinking more narrowly, about growth of pension pot, in my post).

chicletteeth · 10/08/2011 18:31

No YANBU at all.

I've been tracking it and would like some discussion on it but figured if I started one someone would tell me off for having a vested interested when there are rioters looters who are upset with their lot.

chicletteeth · 10/08/2011 18:35

Gnomedeplume your first sentence is very true, don't think a lot of people realise that; although to be fair this 'blip' is a bit more than that.

Myself, I'm looking for buying opportunities but really need to educate myself a little better in this area so I can make some good decisions.