Capitalism works because it fuels innovation. The opportunity for reward creates the incentive to take risk, and risk is what drives discovery. My mother lived 15 extra years because of a drug developed by a public company—one she first received in the experimental stage. That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because capital markets funded years of uncertainty, failure, and research. Companies like Pfizer, Merck, Gilead, Medtronic, and others have produced life-changing drugs and devices that exist only because investors were willing to risk capital. Practically everything that improves our quality of life traces back to money raised in capital markets. And without liquidity, those markets don’t function. Even day traders play an important role in keeping that system working. Trading is a noble profession. Wall Street is often criticized, but the same people doing the critizing are the ones driving Teslas, wearing Ibuds and Nike sneakers, while they are sipping on their Starbucks coffee buying stiff on Amazon. All public companies.