Top 1% Insights: Wealth Disparity Gives A Clue About the Stock Market Trend

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Top 1% Insights: Wealth Disparity Gives A Clue About the Stock Market Trend
"The rich will get poorer faster."

By Bob Stokes
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:15:00 ET

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In his later years, John D. Rockefeller sought to improve his image by handing out dimes to adults and nickels to children. At first he did this privately.

In the nineteen-teens Rockefeller had hired public relations pioneer Ivy Lee, who is often credited with the "coin dispensing" idea. But Ron Chernow, the author of "Titan: the life of John D. Rockefeller Sr.," said it was Rockefeller's own idea.

Lee did convince Rockefeller to make his coin handouts public. Via newsreels and other press, Rockefeller's "generosity" became well known.

Widely considered a public relations genius, Lee's strategies helped improve Rockefeller's image.

If Ivy Lee was around today and his clients included Wall Street's wealthy, an "image" campaign might prove more challenging.

A December 7 Associated Press article titled "JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon: Stop Bashing the Rich" quotes Dimon saying, "Acting like everyone who's been successful is bad and that everyone who is rich is bad — I just don't get it."

Deserved or not, public animosity toward "money men" appears to be growing. We know about the Occupy Wall Street protests, but the ill will also seems to be at work in the legal system. Some weeks ago, a judge handed out the longest-ever prison sentence for insider trading. Another judge recently rejected Citigroup's fraud charges settlement with the government. The rejection implied that the SEC was letting Citi off too easily.

Judges, financial authorities, Wall Street Occupiers, politicians, and others may try to level the financial playing field, but the biggest earth mover will prove to be the bear market itself.

"As the bear market intensifies, the rich will get poorer faster, and the concentration of wealth will follow income downward."

Financial Forecast, December 2011

The bottom line on the chart below shows that the income share of the top 1% has already turned downward:

The latest Financial Forecast also provides this insight:

"The share of wealth held by the top 1% of Americans is lower today than it was at the major market peaks of 1929 and 2000. Yet the impetus to redistribute wealth is far stronger..."

But why is that impetus "far stronger"? Perhaps more importantly, what does this mean for the stock market in the months ahead?

Learn why this stock market trend is so different as you read our Financial Forecast Service risk-free. You may follow this link>>

Tags: Bear market, U.S. STOCK MARKET, Wall Street

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