Back in 2007, 72% of American owned stocks, either individual stocks, stock mutual funds or a 401(k) or an IRA. Today, about half of all Americans own stocks. (Depending on which poll you read, it’s either 55% who own stocks or 53% who don’t. Polls are twitchy things and need a lot of translating to tell a straight story.) But what that means is that about half of all Americans (give or take 5%) are stock owners.