Wealthy ("super-rich") losing faith in Wall Street- 79% - MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.com/news/989734.asp?0si=-&cp1=1

Perhaps the rich are not that different from you and me after all. A survey of some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, released Wednesday, strongly suggests that the wave of corporate scandals has shaken their faith in the credibility of corporate managers.

ACCORDING TO THE SURVEY by U.S. Trust, 79 percent of the nation’s super-rich “question the reliability” of corporate financial statements and do not trust the recommendations of equity analysts. A slightly smaller number, 67 percent, said they do not trust corporate management, and 65 percent do not trust independent auditors.

The survey of affluent Americans, which U.S. Trust has been doing for 22 years, also revealed that rich people have grown significantly more nervous about terrorism and long-term economic prospects over the past year.

The survey found that 86 percent of respondents were worried that terrorism here and abroad will have a negative impact on the economy and financial markets, up from 76 percent last year. And 77 percent said they were worried about threats to the personal security of their family and friends in the aftermath of 9/11, up from 63 percent in 2002. Terrorism ranked as the No. 1 concern in both surveys conducted after the 9/11 terror attacks, followed by the concern that “the next generation will have a more difficult time financially” than the current generation.

-I post these messages not to stop the marketers "gamblers", but to inform the mutual fund holders, pensioneers, and the "safe" investors that they are in the "fixed" casino too.
And maybe prevent them from having to sleep on the street someday.

They have more money. They won't be going hungry when the economy collapses.

I don't know if it's findable anymore, but back in the summer of 2001 the Washington Post published the demographics of its poll on the Bush presidency and his policies.

On just about every question, the highest-earning and highest-educated *and* the lowest-earning and lowest-educated both disagreed with Bush's policies, while it was the middle-class who were more likely to think he was doing okay.

Just because these people know where their bread is buttered doesn't mean they're dumb about their long-term interests.

However, I'd be surprised if the 50 or 100 wealthiest people in America have much to complain about with Bush.

Their wealth has been more or less exempted from taxes, so all they have to do is send it "offshore".. They just worry about making their wealth "expand"..The stock market was a sweet little bonanza for them for a while..but now it's crumbling, and they don't want to risk their hardstolenearned money , so they just want the middle classers to "invest" now.. their money will always be safer than ours.

Don't kid yourself. They're probably turned off because they realize they can't make a killing off the market anymore now that unethical hedge-fund trades are being investigated. Unfortunately, to bring this country on the same page, you're going to have to teach them that they have to abide by the same rules we do. Then they won't be so smug about their rugged individualist principles, since they'll realize it's impossible to be a rugged individualist without participating in shady deals.