BUYER AND SELLER MARKET

By Jorge Lomboy
November 1, 2016



A market is a place of commercial activity in which goods or services are bought and sold.  It is a geographic area or demographic segment considered as a place of demand for particular services, especially the prospective purchases of goods wherever they are, such as a foreign market for microchips.  It is the privilege of having a public market, the opportunity for buying and selling goods or services to the extent of economic demand, such as a strong job market for accountants. 

It is the business of exchange, the enterprise of buying and selling securities or commodities, such as the stock market.  It is the price at which the buyer and seller of a security or commodity agree, such as the market price for oil at $100 per barrel.  In short, a market is the tango of buying and selling between a buyer and a seller.

On the other hand, economy is the management or administration of the wealth and resources of a community such as a city, state or country.  It is the sociopolitical organization of a community’s wealth and resources.  Economy is also understood to mean restrained, thrifty or sparing use of resources efficiently. Every economy runs on economics which is the social science dealing with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.  Economics comes to life in the markets where goods and services are distributed through buying and selling.  Without a market there are doldrums in economics and the economy turns gangrenous.  Economic growth or decline lies in the volume of commercial activity in the markets where gains and losses are the result.

The question that comes to mind is whether economic growth is triggered by a buyer market or a seller market.  A buyer’s market is one in which supply significantly exceeds demand resulting in lower prices.  A seller’s market is one in which the demand exceeds or approaches the supply resulting in raised or higher prices.  Every economic system is a hostage of cost and every buy and sell takes place when money changes hands.  In the markets of goods and services we are all customers and consumers.  Our cost of living depends on our lifestyle, our buying power and our credit limits.  The value of goods and services fluctuates with supply and demand.  The buying power of money is either inflated or depleted by supply and demand.

In a buyer’s market a buyer gets more of goods and services with less money.  The buying power of money is inflated because the seller’s supply significantly exceeds the demand.  In a buyer’s market there are more customers and consumers than sellers in the market.  From the standpoint of the buyer, the economy is good for with less money they are able to buy and obtain everything they need and the ordinary things they want.  A buyer with meager income is a satisfied customer in a buyer’s market as he is free from want.  Nothing could provide a stronger sense of security to a buyer, customer or consumer but the ability to provide for the wants and needs of his family brought forth by a buyer’s market. Customers flourish in a buyer’s market.  That is why a buyer’s market spurs economic growth.

In a seller’s market one spends more money and the seller receives more money for less of his goods and services.  The buying power of money is depleted because the buyer’s demand significantly exceeds the seller’s supply.  In a seller’s market there are less or few customers and consumers in the market.  From the standpoint of the seller, the economy is good for with more money they are able to realize considerable profit for less goods and services.  A seller with meager capital at risk is a satisfied businessman in a seller’s market for he is free of losses. Nothing could provide a stronger sense of stability to a seller, merchant or trader but the abundance of gain brought forth by a seller’s market.  Markets are sluggish in a seller’s market but gains spur economic growth.

As with capital and labor, buyers and sellers need one another.  They are the pillars of economic growth which include market making among market makers. They are the sources of market power which is the ability to reduce output and raise prices above the competitive level, especially above marginal cost for a sustained period and make profit by doing so.  In antitrust law a large amount of market power may constitute monopoly power.  In economic terms market power is the ability to increase prices without a total loss of sales.  Without market power consumers shop around to find a rival offering a better deal.  Just like Blue Cross, Blue Shield, patient services are entirely a provider’s market for the cost of health care.

By the law of supply and demand, buyers and seller are tied up to an ongoing and irreconcilable conflict of interest.  A good buy is a poor sell and a poor sell is a good buy.  Every consumer wants to spend less for buying more and every seller wants to have more money for selling less.  This conflict is very obvious. The economy as it stands today stunts economic growth for it is neither a buyer’s market nor a seller’s market.  Businesses are closing in large numbers for lack of buying power caused by mass layoffs and unemployment not to mention struggling homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure.  This economic downturn is further made worse by loss of trust and confidence in our financial systems.  This economic downturn is further worsened by the weakened value of the dollar at a time when prices continue to escalate to the prejudice of the fixed income groups of seniors and retirees.  We cannot strengthen our weakness by weakening our strength.

In quiet desperation the young are frustrated for lack of meaningful opportunities in the job market.  In quiet desperation the elderly are disillusioned for being forced to tighten their belts and live in austerity.  In quiet desperation the middle class have become distrustful due to the insatiable appetite for greed that brought them to the welfare rolls.  Three groups of citizens, the young, the elderly and the middle class, find themselves in the same dungeon of destitution serving a life sentence for the cost of living.  A trickle down economy halts production and distribution as it suspends the trickle down theory that financial benefits given to big-time business will in turn pass down to smaller business and consumers.  Greed made millionaires overnight and made us destitute the day after.  It takes a buyer’s market to restore trust in leadership and it takes a seller’s market to stabilize confidence in the business hierarchy.  Moderation of greed and restraint of power are the passwords to regain trust and confidence in the investment market.

Net worth is the magic word to everyone with a desire to live.  It does not matter whether it is drawn from a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.  Net worth is the measure of economic growth on the part of individuals just as the gross national product is the measure of the economic prosperity of the nation.  Net worth is the measure of one’s wealth, especially calculated as the excess of total assets over total liabilities, also termed net assets.  We can earn as much as we can but without net worth there is no security.  Security comes from saving toward net worth.  It’s not how much we earn but how much we save that builds and grows our net worth.  To this day the net worth of most citizens has been severely denuded by reason of the economic downfall brought forth by delinquency in leadership.  In the infirmary of economic nightmares, don’t be persuaded to spill the beans of net worth in a buyer and seller market.