visers also note the deep distrust many feel toward Wall Street, manifested in the deep backlash against the government bailouts of financial institutions in 2008. A changing market landscape, including a move toward high frequency trading and this year's abrupt "flash crash" -- when the Dow Jones industrial average dropped some 700 points in a matter of minutes -- has added to the complexity the average investor faces.
Whatever the cause, nervous investors are sitting on cash that is making next to nothing from historically low interest rates. And all that dead money may result in too-small nest eggs for many Americans.
Investment advisor Bob Mecca, of Robert A. Mecca & Associates in Chicago
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"The days are gone when older people are searching for the last dime," said Mecca. "They're looking for return of principal rather than return on principal."
Advisers fret that for those with a longer time horizon until retirement, conservative investing may not be the best decision. Lower savings and investments that are returning less than in the past may prove to be the wrong combination.
This is exactly the scenario people like Malkiel worry about. "Many investors have thrown up their hands and said, 'I'm not going to touch the stock market
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Wholesale USA Jerseys lots of talk," said Malkiel. "I'm more worried that people haven't saved enough and they haven't taken enough risk."
STOCKS ON SALE
The trillion dollar question for the market is: Does the flight of retail investors matter?
As stocks began to stabilize in 2009
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inexpensive louboutins , stocks are up about 77 percent from the crisis low hit in early 2008. But the index remains down about 23 percent from October 2007's record high close.
Whether less retail money hinders the actual performance of the market rather than just sentiment is debatable. In theory, an influx of investors looking to hold stocks for the long run should drive up prices and smooth out volatility.
Analysts say the absconding retail investor is also helping to shape the type of market we are seeing: one tha