Kendall, you may be wrong about stock ownership.

In 2005, the last year I could get figures for easily, over 20% of Americans directly owned stocks; about 49% of American families owned shares in mutual funds. Allowing for some overlap between the two, and considering that most funds invest all or part in equities (stocks), I would surmise that perhaps 60% or more of Americans own stock either directly or indirectly.

Considering the market turn down, this figure may have dropped a bit, but many people have had to hold on to dwindling prices in hopes of a comeback, I would think the percentage is still well above 50%.