The stock market is *mostly* fake

Some very hateful emails have been flooding my inbox explaining stridently that despite my 9/7/07 post the stock market is NOT fake.

They point out the following.

Companies can buy back stock they've issued. This is called "treasury stock." (They normally do this to inflate their share price and provide better returns to those lucky employees who have stock options.) They can hold on to this treasury stock indefinitely, they can cancel it and destroy the shares, or they can sell it back to the public. Therefore, if you buy socially responsible stock, there's a very small chance you're buying it from the company itself, and providing them capital. But if you hadn't bought the shares, the nature of the market is that someone else would have -- perhaps at an infinitesimally lower price.

Companies can leverage high net worth of the company to secure loans and other financial instruments. They can pay back interest to the loaning company with stock, in many cases. So the higher the stock price, the fewer shares they have to pay. I'm told there are many many other ways companies derive tangible benefit from high stock prices. It's all happening in the fake accounting world, but if it brings more capital to makers of windmills, it's not entirely fake.

So which is better? I can buy shares in Vestas wind systems, or I can buy shares or Wal-Mart and advocate as a shareholder for greater use of wind energy. Which choice has the greater impact on GHG emissions? I couldn't find anyone to give me a straight answer. Green Century, the mutual fund company, couldn't tell me, but they did try to sell me their mutual funds. So I asked Vestas itself. They even have an Investor Relations division. Perfect. They responded a week later:

Dear Daniel

On behalf of Vestas, I can inform you that we do not offer investment consultancy service. To evaluate whether you want to invest in Vestas Wind Systems, I can only advise you to study our website – www.vestas.com. On the website you will find a lot of information about our products, our latest financial reports, etc.

Fuck you, Vestas! Is this a fucking state secret? Fuck. I'll find out, just you wait.

For now I'm uncertain, and I'm leaving my money in GEX.