[tptacek]

I'm a little confused; this isn't stuff I just made up. Again, think about what a share of stock actually gets you. People trade stacks because their price fluctuates... but why do they fluctuate? Because the company is earning more? Why does that make a share more valuable?

[JoeAltmaier]

Because people think it does; nothing more. Really, stock shares (most of them) are like baseball cards. Famous players with a good season have cards worth more. But there's no reason for that, than, people believe it.

I'm sure you didn't make it up; this notion has been around for a while. Its just a curious quirk of human nature to believe in things that don't quite make sense.