Doug Henwood probably answers this question in his new book,(which I have but have not had time to read yet), but I am hoping for a quicker answer. The NY stock market is a secondary market - that is, none of the money that changes hands in the sale of stock goes to the companies that issued it. It is also the case, as Doug H. has pointed out several times, that corporations (in the aggregate) have bought back more stock in recent years than they issued. Thus, the stock market has not provided any new capital. My question: since corps don't get their capital from the stock market, why are they so entirely focused on the value of their outstanding stocks? Why does Wall Street rule? Doug Orr Eastern Washington Univ. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
