australians lose faith in the share market

Perhaps because we've got such easy availability of pokies, TABs, casinos etc.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24779635-20142,00.html

Australians lose faith in sharemarket: survey

Clive Mathieson | December 10, 2008
Article from: The Australian

CONSUMER confidence may be returning but investors have lost almost all faith in the bombed-out sharemarket.
The latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment report reveals that just 8.1 per cent of Australians believe the sharemarket is a good place to park their savings, down from 14.6 per cent this time last year.

Shortly before the Wall Street bank implosion in mid-September, 11.2 per cent of Australians still believed the stock market was a safe place for their money.

Faith in superannuation has also collapsed, with a miserable 2.6 per cent of Australians saying it is the best place for their money, down from 7.2 per cent 12 months ago.

By comparison, 37.9 per cent of people now believe savings should be kept in banks or building societies, up from 24.1 per cent.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority figures reveal that tens of billions of dollars have been flooding into bank deposit accounts as the global financial crisis continues to smash other investments, particularly stocks.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down more than 45 per cent since the consumer sentiment report in December last year, wiping more than $750 billion from the value of listed stocks and savaging superannuation savings.

The index is less than 300 points, 8 per cent, from its three-year low.

The Westpac-MI report reveals that overall consumer confidence rose 7.5 per cent in the past month to 92 points - a level at which pessimists slightly outnumber optimists - as the Reserve Bank's big interest rate cuts gained traction.

But in an ominous sign for the federal Government's $10.4 billion economic stimulus package, just 3.8 per cent of Australians think the wisest thing to do with their savings is “spend it” - down from 4.9 per cent this time last year.

About 23 per cent of Australians say the best thing to do is reduce debt, up from 12.9 per cent.