Last year, during the presidential election, one of the questions that was asked of most candidates was their solution for improving the stock market. This question, in fact, reflected the desire of many stock market losers. Like all other issues in the economy and politics of the country, presidential candidates talked about the stock market and having a solution to its problems. Many stock market shareholders believed that by changing the government, the stock market would quickly return to its prosperous days, especially since some candidates confidently promised a 100-day plan to solve the stock market problems. However, after one year, despite those promises and the involvement of many of those candidates in the current government, the stock market situation is still unfavorable and the hopes of many individuals, along with their investments, have been lost. The question that arises is why, despite all the promises and talks, a solution for this market has not been found and its problems still persist.

Perhaps the sentences that come in the following lines to examine the problems of the stock market may not be very pleasing, especially for the affected shareholders, but it is still a reality of what is happening and cannot be hidden.

It is better to start the discussion with the phrase “the stock market of any country should be the mirror of its economy.” Do you think that if the purpose is to explain the country’s economy, the stock market should be in a better condition? In recent years, especially in the 1990s, Iran’s economy has faced very difficult conditions due to sanctions. Inflation and high unemployment rates, along with the devaluation of the national currency and industries struggling under sanctions, have been the face of Iran’s economy in recent years. Can this damaged and sick economy have a positive and dynamic stock market? Undoubtedly, the answer is no. And if there is any growth in this market, it is solely due to the increase in the prices of goods, machinery, land, and buildings of stock companies through re-evaluation of their assets, nothing else. Therefore, if this has happened in the past years, it is surprising, otherwise the current conditions of the capital market are in complete

Here, it is possible that a question arises as to why the index has not returned to its peak in 1399; in fact, if shareholders had bought any goods in 1399, their prices may have doubled by now. How is it possible that the stock market has not reached its price from two years ago after two years?

Here, it is important to mention a key point, which is that the stock market, unlike other markets, has been accompanied by erratic and unreasonable growth, which is now being adjusted. In fact, if we look at it logically and compare it with other markets, we could say that this market is still profitable, provided that you entered it at the beginning of 2019. In the beginning of 2019, the stock market index started at 178,000 units and by the end of August 2020, it reached 1,450,000 units; meaning that in about three and a half years, the index has increased eight times. If we compare this with some economic figures in Iran, the stock market has performed better; for example, the gold market, coin market, and dollar market have increased three to four times, and the housing market has also increased by about three times. Therefore, the growth of the stock market has been desirable during this period. However,

In fact, it must be said that the stock market profits have only benefited a few individuals, and the remaining amount has caused losses for others. To understand what has happened, let’s use a simple example: If a person had started a joint stock company at the beginning of the year 1398 with a capital of one hundred million tomans and had entered the stock market, and with this amount, had bought a car worth one hundred million tomans and considered it as an asset of the company, after a year and a half, in the month of Mordad 1399, with the increase in stock prices, the value of this person’s stocks would have reached approximately one billion and one hundred million tomans. This was while if this person wanted to sell the entire assets of the company, meaning the mentioned car, in the market, they could only sell it for two hundred million tomans. If the person who owned the stock had decided to sell their stocks, they could

Perhaps if such an event happened in the coin or dollar market, the initial owner of the share would be executed on charges of disrupting the currency and coin market and as the king of coins or dollars. But in the stock market, where the identities of those who became wealthy in the month of Mordad 1399 by offering a large number of shares and caused a crash in the capital market, no one followed up on the situation. But why does no one care about them? If we know that many of these individuals were affiliated with government and private banks, as well as government or special interest companies, you will understand why no one was ever prosecuted for the decrease in share prices. Alongside these individuals, the former prime minister and minister of economy, who themselves encouraged people to participate in the stock market, are considered the main culprits in this story. Undoubtedly, many economic advisors had warned them, and this lack of attention and continued encouragement for investment in the stock market was

Along with these issues, the media is also to blame for not providing accurate and timely information. Unfortunately, in our country, discussions about the stock market have always been accompanied by approval and encouragement, unlike other markets. So far, several reports have been prepared by the media about the losses incurred by entering the coin, dollar, and car markets, which show individuals who have suffered losses from entering these markets and regret it, but no report has been prepared in the field of capital. When the stock market statistics showed that large amounts were being invested by individual shareholders, why did no one warn the people about this? Compare this situation with other markets to better understand the issue. In fact, in this chaotic market, neither the major shareholders, nor the brokerage firms, nor the government suffered losses, but the main and only victims were the ordinary people.