2017 Stock Market Sentiment: Are Women “Killing It?”

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Guest post from BeActivist 

A nationwide survey of 1000 people was recently conducted to get a feel for how Americans perceive the stock market in 2017. Americans were asked to select the best statement that describes their view of the stock market for 2017. The possible answers were:

  • The stock market is rigged
  • Stocks are really boring
  • I don’t have money to invest
  • I’m afraid of big losses
  • I don’t know how to choose stocks
  • I will buy stocks

Surprisingly, the survey revealed some very amazing information about how Americans see the stock market in 2017.

First, it turns out that nearly 20% of the people that were surveyed definitely intend to buy stocks in 2017.  The other good piece of news is that just above 10% said that they are afraid of suffering from big losses. At this point, there is no comparable benchmark from previous years, but these answers sound generally positive and so, there seems to be some confidence in the air for the stock market in 2017.

That being said, it’s noteworthy to mention that roughly 20% of all respondents just don’t know how to pick stocks, and would most seemingly not invest in the stock market because of this reason. That tells us that even though there are gazillions of books, sites, videos, Warren Buffett’s letters or any other good educational material, good investment advice is still a necessity in 2017. Thus, educational sources, such as stock market sites and others, are still relevant in this information flooded age.

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On the other hand, roughly 50% of all respondent would not invest because they either think that the stock market is rigged (6%), because “stocks are really boring” (10%), or just don’t have money to invest (34%). When most people aim for achieving a better life, this appears to be a strong contradiction to putting together the foundation into what could bring about these changes. Everyone agrees that saving money can be very challenging (not to say impossible) in some cases for some people, and situations, but in the long run, it’s very important to put some money away to become more financially secure, and to provide safety nets in case of emergency.

Now, what else can we learn from the respondents? Let’s have a look at the demographic profile. As for not knowing how to pick stocks, the biggest cohort (50%) comes from the Y generation and the millennials. Newsletter gigs should definitely target this market segment after all. One can observe a similar trend for the “boring factor,” since 40% of the Y and Millennials find stocks boring. However, one can observe the opposite from the Boomers; less than 10% answered that they didn’t know how to pick stock, and 5% or less answered that they were finding investing boring. That being said, it is tempting to conclude that a lack of experience, education or, rather, knowledge may drive these results.

Before concluding, let’s just say a few more words on the respondent profiles. Only 30% of women intend to buy stocks in 2017, and 60% of women answered that they either feel that stocks are boring, don’t have money to invest, are afraid of big losses or don’t know how to pick stocks. That is particularly saddening considering that women are generally poorer than men despite obtaining higher levels of education.

Now, let’s look to the geographical results of this survey. It’s noteworthy to mention that the “I don’t have money to invest” answer was excluded, for representation purposes, as this was the predominant answer for most states. Besides, for some states, particularly the ones with a smaller number of respondents, whenever two or more answers were leading, the final selection was made by alphabetical order in order to retain only one answer.

Stock Market Sentiment Per State

These findings came to light from a new survey conducted by BeActivist.com, the new disruptive crowd-based investment site. BeActivist was designed to assist individual investors to better invest and get the most from their investments. BeActivist.com runs a patent pending technology that seeks and gathers shareholders, and encourages them to exercise their fundamental right to vote. By using BeActivist.com, individual shareholders are made to feel not alone anymore; they can now voice their best interests to be in control and unlock shareholder value.

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