Re: The point in trading
And how much of the money obtained at the IPO actually ends up in the company issuing the shares; and how much of that ends up in actual R&D?
How much of the money generated by trading those shares after the IPO ends up in the company that originally issued the shares; etc. etc.
... and don't even get me started on derivatives.
Yes, companies need to raise money in order to grow, and one way to do so is to issue shares.
The problem is, the larger part of the financial markets has become stictly self-serving.
Rather by accident I looked into oil a couple of years ago and was quite surprised to find, that at any given time, for each barrel actually pumped from the well, transported, refined and consumed, anything between 5 to 15 barrels were traded... The principle is entirely transferrable.