Despite the recent strength of the stock market, many Americans remain leery of investing their money in equities. A recent Gallup poll asked, "If you had a thousand dollars to spend, do you think investing it in the stock market would be a good idea?" Exactly half, 50 percent, of the respondents said it would be a bad idea. Only 46 percent said it sounded like a good idea.
At least that figure has been dropping in recent years. At the beginning of 2010, 54 percent of Americans considered stock investing a bad idea. In 2008, when the market was crashing, 62 percent though it was a bad idea, and just 33 percent considered it a good idea.
These figures might be considered a contrarian indicator. In Gallup's recent history, the high point for Americans wanting to invest that $1,000 in the market came in early 2000, when 67 percent thought it was a good idea. Shortly thereafter, the dot-com boom came to an end.
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