New restrictions imposed on Internet investors. Today, most consumers understand the basics of the stock market, and many average Joes and Joannes invest. Add to this equation the power of the Internet, and now the average American can play the market without the traditional broker and restrictions. And with the birth of day trading, ordinary individuals became rich and poor in a single day. With the increasing consumerism in the stock market, problems have arisen from the lack of knowledge in investing.
Many critics call it gambling.
In the past, the research and intelligence is what set the stock market apart from the Las Vegas casino. The stock exchanges and the Securities and Exchange Commission are trying to regain the respect while encouraging consumer expansion. The stock exchanges will closely monitor the degree to which those traders can buy stocks on the margin. Margin-lending practices allow traders to pay only a fraction of a sum to invest the sum in a particular stock or fund. The trader is responsible for paying the entire sum at any time the lender requests it.