askchapo

It boils down to the same argument that bootlickers use to defend billionaires: it's not "real" money. The assets (stocks) gain or lose "value"--the theoretical amount that it could be sold for based on the most recent sale of that asset.

So when a stock goes down, all of the existing bits are "worth less", but they're also the same worthless pieces of paper they always were, in the same quantity. It's just about how much some other theoretical sucker is theoretically willing to pay for it.

But the thing is, this being a giant fucking casino, there's ways for individuals and companies to make money no matter what is happening to the line. You can place bets that a stock will go down. You can place bets that a stock will go up. Neither of these require actually owning the stock. You can even sell stock you don't actually own with the intent to buy it when it goes down. Shit's insane.

So even when the "market is down", folks are still making money hand over fist. The actual total value of all stocks out there is just some random bullshit magic number based on wishful thinking neoliberal economics. What matters is how much you can screw someone else, because that's where actual money is made and lost.

Every interaction in the stock market has a winner and a loser. If I sell a stock high and it keeps going up, I made less than I could have. If I sell a stock low and it goes up, I lost money. If I buy a stock high and it goes down, i lost money. If I buy a stock low and it goes up, I made money, but whoever I bought it from missed out.

Stock prices are 100% vibes based. There's fake math out there that defines "what a stock price should be" (defined by warren buffet which is why he is always getting richer it's self-fulfilling at this point) but these pieces of paper are literally just worth whatever someone else will pay for it.