How the Stock Market Really Works (Fed Data)

Every number in this video comes from official documents: the Federal Reserve, the SEC, SEC filings from Robinhood, Apple and NVIDIA, the IRS, and the U.S. Code. Sources below.

This month the Fed published its newest survey: 56% of American families own stocks, 31% in the bottom half of earners and 97% in the top tenth. We follow one tap on a trading app: where the order goes (less than 60% of stock volume runs on exchanges, per SEC staff), who pays for it (55% of Robinhood's 2025 net revenue came from market makers and exchanges), how Apple spent $90.7 billion buying back its own stock in fiscal 2025, who owns the market (the top 1% hold about half of the stocks and mutual funds families own outside retirement plans), what happened in 1987, 2008, 2010 and 2020, and what fees and taxes take. Plus three checks from the SEC.

Watch next:
How to Become a Millionaire (Federal Reserve Data): https://youtu.be/uXOvwUXK0vQ

Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:34 The Click
3:47 What You Own
4:52 The Cash Machine
6:35 Who Owns It
8:33 When It Breaks
10:49 The Slow Engine
11:48 The Quiet Cut
12:55 Three Checks

Sources
- Fed, Survey of Consumer Finances 2025 (Oct 2026): https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf26.pdf
- Fed, Distributional Accounts (2026:Q2): https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/
- Fed, Z.1, Q2 2026: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf
- Fed, Financial Stability Report (May 2026): https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/financial-stability-report-20260508.pdf
- Fed, Monetary Policy Report (Jun 2020): https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/20200612_mprfullreport.pdf
- SEC staff report, early 2021 markets: https://www.sec.gov/files/staff-report-equity-options-market-struction-conditions-early-2021.pdf
- SEC order on Robinhood (Dec 2020): https://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2020/33-10906.pdf
- Robinhood 10-K 2025: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1783879/000178387926000023/hood-20251231.htm
- Robinhood 10-Q Q2 2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1783879/000178387926000114/hood-20260630.htm
- Nasdaq 10-K 2025: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1120193/000162828026007703/ndaq-20251231.htm
- Apple 10-K FY2025: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019325000079/aapl-20250927.htm
- Apple 10-Q (Jun 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019326000020/aapl-20260627.htm
- NVIDIA 10-K FY2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000021/nvda-20260125.htm
- NVIDIA 10-Q (Jul 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000075/nvda-20260726.htm
- 26 U.S. Code § 4501: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/4501
- Brady Report (Jan 1988): https://archive.org/details/reportofpresiden01unit
- FCIC report (2011): https://fcic-static.law.stanford.edu/cdn_media/fcic-reports/fcic_final_report_full.pdf
- CFTC-SEC, May 6, 2010 report: https://www.sec.gov/files/marketevents-report.pdf
- SEC Release 34-90134 (circuit breakers): https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/nyse/2020/34-90134.pdf
- SEC, How fees affect your portfolio: https://www.investor.gov/news-alerts/investor-bulletins/investor-bulletin-how-fees-expenses-affect-your-investment-portfolio
- Investor.gov, compound interest: https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/information/youth/teachers-classroom-resources/what-compound-interest
- Investor.gov glossary: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary
- Investor.gov, check a professional: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/getting-started/working-investment-professional/check-out-your-investment-professional
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- IRS SOI Table 1.4A, 2023: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/23in14acg.xls
- IRS, 2026 401(k) limit: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-24500-for-2026-ira-limit-increases-to-7500

Research and fact-checking: Wealth Filings. For information only, not financial advice.

Corrections and context
• Source correction: the 28.4 million funded customers (mid-2026) comes from Robinhood's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, not its annual report; its 2025 Form 10-K reports 27.0 million at December 31, 2025.
• Context: the Fed's series covers stocks and mutual funds held outside employer defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s; holdings in IRAs are included.
• Note: the Fed publishes the top 0.1% and the rest of the top 1% separately; our top-1% shares (50.9% in 2026:Q2, 42.8% in 1989:Q3) are our sums of the two.
• Note: the $98,900 zero-rate ceiling for long-term capital gains in 2026 is for married couples filing jointly; it is $49,450 for single filers and $66,200 for heads of household (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
• Caption fix: at 4:16 the caption shows "a 0 exchange-traded products" (narration: "a thousand"); at 9:36 "Some at a $0." (narration: "a hundred thousand dollars").