[kpommerenke]

> I don't trust the stock broker (intermediary) to hold my shares on my behalf. What if they go bankrupt? What if they are malicious and disappear with my money?

You don't have to trust the stock broker. If they go bankrupt or steal your money, you'll get it back through SIPC insurance (https://www.sipc.org/)

> I don't trust corporate executives to have my best interests.

You don't have to trust corporate executives to have your best interests at heart, only that they have their own best interests at heart: corporations pay executives with stocks and stock options, thus aligning incentives between executives and shareholders.

> I don't trust corporation revenue numbers because they are inflated by artificial currency supply and manipulation (e.g. corporations feeding off of debt-fueled shell companies to generate fake revenue).

You don't have to take corporate revenue numbers on trust, since they are audited. Yes, sometimes things slip through the audit, but you can just buy a well-diversified portfolio, such as an index fund, to largely eliminate the effect of outliers.