what does it mean by $2.9 trillion wiped away due to losses in Stock market. Where did it go?

Question

Where did the money actually go? Are these small startups or individuals that have gone bankrupt that totalled this amount ?

In: Economics

Answer 1

It is like virtual money, let’s say you have company shares each one valued at a dollar so you “have” $100, something happens and now shares are valued at 70 cents each, you still have your 100 shares but only “have” $70. The money didn’t go anywhere because you didn’t really had it. The problem is that if you originally bought those shares at a dollar each you WOULD lose money if you choose to sell them, in the future those shares could increase in value and recover or could keep going down.