Monday, January 02, 2006

2005 gave people corporate power


If optimism is the opiate of the masses, then I think we as investors have some reasons to expect an exhilarating high in the year ahead.

This is not to be confused with a prediction of what the stock and bond markets might generate. My basis for optimism derives from what I consider to be the past year's major housecleaning of twisted ethics in the world of commerce.

So that there's no confusion as to what I consider to be the "masses," I refer to the new majority of U.S. households owning stocks, bonds or mutual funds -- a result largely attributable to retirement plans of all stripes.

This distribution of corporate ownership constitutes a major sea change in socio-economic power. Corporate ownership in the 1960s was concentrated in the hands of wealthy individuals and institutional investors. They didn't represent much in the way of voting power.

See full Article.