Stock Rage

by Gerald L. Lacambra

Definition: Stock rage can involve yelling, cursing, or even bombing others, such as stock brokers.

"Two bombs targeted stockbroker interests within two hours of each other, in Nicosia and then Paralimni, wrecking the car of one broker and the offices of another. No one was hurt, but property damage was considerable." Investors are facing more and more drops in the stock market, especially now that tech stocks are falling like rain on a parade. However, some investors have a mentality that the stock market is not a gamble, or a game of chance. Some see their investments as sure-things. When those same stocks fall, stock rage can happen.

Last week, that resentment boiled over: investors tried to storm past security guards to vent their anger on brokers and stock exchange managers as prices continued to fall. Police prevented an incident, but the message was clear: people were losing money and the brokers were to blame. This is the backdrop against which Wednesday's attacks took place. Clearly, those willing to resort to violence are a tiny criminal minority, but the climate has been created where investors assume that their losses are not the fault of their own financial misjudgement, but of sinister, arrogant manipulators against whom something must be done. And in a society where arson and bomb attacks on property have become a common means of solving personal and business disputes, it was only a matter of time before the brokers were attacked.