Bull

Though the bulls are rampaging on Wall Street, only 40 percent of likely voters know the stock market has chalked up a gain in 2019, according to a Financial Times/Peter Foundation US Economic Monitor released Dec. 5.

Forty-two percent say the market has remained the same, while 18 percent believe it has declined.

And then again, who cares? More than six in ten (61 percent) voters believe stock market movements have little or no effect on their financial well-being.

Since the Federal Reserve reports that half of US households either own stock directly or indirectly, that’s a pretty astounding figure.

Though president Trump regularly tweets about new records being set on Wall Street, the poll found that two-thirds of Americans say their personal finances haven’t improved since he took office.

Only seven percent of respondents believe a downturn in the stock market would be a threat to the US economy.

Rising healthcare costs (28 percent), trade wars with China/Mexico (21 percent) and global slowdown (15 percent) topped the list.

Respondents are pretty much evenly split on Trump’s economic policies. Forty-seven percent say Trump hurt the economy and 44 percent say he helped it.

Global Strategy Group and North Star Opinion Research conducted the poll.