Financial Frames

What percentage of US households has investments in the stock market?

Where can I find statistical data, from a reliable source, about how many households (I'm looking specifically for middle-class, but global stats would also do) have investments in the stock market?. I don't mean trust funds or other "indirect" investments but people actually buying and trading stocks.

Public Comments

1. I have heard that over 60 percent of Americans DIRECTLY invest in stocks or bonds... and another 30 percent invest through their 401's, 509K's and other ways through their job.
2. Everyone who buys anything basically. Take oil. Oil futures are traded on the open market... oil is used to makes gasoline, which runs your car... So, if you drive a car, you affect the market. Produce futures are traded on the open market. So, if you eat salads, you affect the market.
3. The Federal Reserve did a new Survey of Consumer Finances in 2007, but the most recent one with the data available right now seems to be 2004. The percentage of all US families owning any stocks was 20.7%. Pooled investment accounts and retirement funds are treated separately, so this is exactly what you were looking for. It has a detailed breakdown of families by various criteria, and based on that I would say this number is pretty representative of the "middle-class", but there is a huge wealth gap between the bottom 20% and the top 20% of families by income (5% stock ownership versus 55%).