Look no further:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-11/high-frequency-firms-tripled-trading-as-s-p-500-plunged-13-wedbush-says.htmlThere. That should cheer you up. Your real work benefited those who do nothing whatsoever for society.
From a post I made yesterday:
Wall Street does not match investors with money to people who want to use that money to build economically beneficial entities. That used to be their job. Now they invent instruments that generate profits and commissions but divert money to non-investments thereby harming the overall economy.
Because these instruments are leveraged, their harm is multiplied.
If you want to invest for economic growth you have to by-pass Wall Street. The stock market as we know it has nearly outlived it's usefulness.
The swings of the past few days have shown this especially clearly. High Frequency Trading algorithms that use rates of change in prices have injected increased instability. This is trading. Not investing.
Wall Street is a parasite on society. It is the major reason for the decline of the middle class. Of course republican politicians protect them, because they pay well.