| | Regional Review: Perspective: Is Margin Lending Marginal? |
 | | Second, margin credit was thought to expose uninformed or overly optimistic investors to risks that more informed or prudent people would avoid, and lead to investor losses and to stress on margin lenders, such as banks and brokers. |
 | | While undoubtedly some investors accounts are heavily margined, and some brokers (the e-brokers are notable) have large margin loan positions with customers, the aggregate amount of margin debt is, and long has been, about 1 to 2 percent of the value of common stocks listed on the NYSE and the NASDAQ. |
 | | Margin debtand any form of leveragehelps define the way financial risks are spread across economic agents and shapes the redistribution of wealth as surprises occur in security markets. |
| www.bos.frb.org /economic/nerr/rr2001/q3/perspect.htm (2466 words) |