Who knew? From CNS News who blew the lid off this story:

Wild gyrations on Wall Street have made U.S investors leery of buying individual stocks and skeptical that the market is a fair place to park their money.

In an Associated Press-CNBC poll of investors, 61 percent said the market’s recent volatility has made them less confident about buying and selling individual stocks. And the majority of those surveyed — 55 percent — said the market is fair only to some investors.

The survey confirms that average investors have been growing more concerned about the stock market as a safe place to invest for retirement. And news about the market has been unsettling for ordinary investors of late: More than 60 percent of those surveyed said they had paid attention to news reports about swings in the stock market.

Perhaps as a result, investors have been moving their money away from stocks and into bonds, which are generally more conservative investments and less volatile.

Who could have predicted that kind of reaction to the market? Thank the gods the Associated Press and CNBC commissioned this poll to see if wild swings in the market would make investors more likely to put money in investments that seemed safer. Money well spent.

Also on CNS – Americans want easy access to their cash. I smell Pulitzer.