“Investors riveted by the market’s ups and downs can lose sight of the fact that stocks

are pieces of real businesses. These companies sell real products and services, and produce

real profits from which real dividends are paid. The anxiety that has gripped the market has

created valuations well below average, so those real profits can be obtained cheaply, and the

dividend yields are hefty, especially compared to what’s available in bonds.

“No matter how much they dislike stocks, whatever the price, young people will still

have to retire one day and meet other financial goals. They can’t do that earning 1% or so at

the bank.

“With or without these buyers, stocks can still go up. This is not the first time that the

market has been out of favor. Stock ownership was not as prevalent a century ago as it is

now, but the mania that led to the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression were sufficiently

significant social phenomena to keep small investors away from Wall Street for decades.

Even so, share prices advanced fairly relentlessly.”

- C. de Aenlle, MarketWatch 1/1/2012