Most Americans believe a simple thing about their retirement accounts: If you buy a stock, you own it. Your statement shows the shares. The value rises and falls. And if you don’t panic-sell, the asset is yours.

That’s the commonsense view of investing.

If Americans believe they directly own the assets in their retirement accounts, the law should reflect that expectation — before the next crisis tests it.

But the law doesn’t treat your “ownership” the way most people think. In the modern system, most investors are not the direct registered owners of most securities. They hold contractual rights tied to the investment — not the security itself.

In calm markets, that sounds like a technicality. In a severe financial crisis, it could determine whether your assets stay yours.

How we got here

Decades ago, investors could hold securities in their own names. Physical certificates were common, and ownership was straightforward.

As we explain in our new book, “The Next Big Crash: Conspiracy, Collapse, and the Men Behind History’s Biggest Heist,” that changed as powerful financial interests pushed to redesign the securities system. Big banks and Wall Street institutions worked to centralize ownership and reduce investor rights — changes that received little public attention and limited scrutiny.

Today most securities sit inside the Depository Trust Company system. DTC — through its nominee legal entity, Cede & Co. — appears as the direct registered owner of those securities, not you.

DTC is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, which is owned by the financial institutions that use it. DTCC is not publicly traded, so ordinary investors can’t own its shares.

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DNY59 via iStock/Getty Images

The ‘security entitlement’ system

The DTC structure was only the beginning. In the 1990s, lawmakers revised Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code — the state-law framework that governs securities ownership nationwide. Those changes formalized what we now have: an indirect holding system built around “security entitlements,” not direct title.

In plain terms: When you hold most securities through a brokerage account, you hold a legal claim against the broker. You typically do not hold specific, segregated property registered in your name.

That distinction matters because Article 8 also sets priority rules when an intermediary fails. If a brokerage pledges securities credited to customers as collateral for financing, the lender can obtain priority over other claimants. When multiple parties assert rights to the same pool of assets, the law decides who stands first in line — and customers are not always first, even when they paid for the investments and believed they owned them.

In the next major crash, if a Wall Street firm uses customer assets to prop itself up, ordinary investors could take heavy losses. And that can be true even if the firm wasn’t allowed to use customer assets that way. Article 8 was written to protect large institutions first and investors second.

Why ‘protections’ may not protect you

Brokerage firms operate under customer-protection and segregation rules. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation offers limited coverage in certain failures.

But those safeguards don’t erase Article 8’s priority structure. SIPC coverage is also too limited to address widespread losses in a broad crisis. And even when a broker violates rules, a secured creditor’s priority claim can survive unless the creditor itself acted in bad faith or colluded.

In a cascading crisis — multiple failures, margin calls, forced liquidations, and liquidity freezes — these limitations stop looking academic. Article 8 determines whether customer assets remain with customers or flow to institutional creditors.

RELATED: Washington printed promises. Gold called the bluff.

Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What investors should understand now

For decades, policymakers sold this transformation as technical modernization. Trading volumes rose. Paperwork bottlenecks appeared. Those problems were real.

But the “solution” did more than speed settlement. It changed who holds legal title and who gets paid first when stress hits.

In ordinary times, the structure runs quietly. Investors see statements, dividends, and confirmations, and few ask how the system records ownership.

The difference becomes decisive when an intermediary fails. At that point, priority rules — not your assumptions — govern what happens next.

What must change

There’s still a path forward.

Because the Uniform Commercial Code is state law, state legislatures can strengthen investor protections and clarify priority rules. Reform doesn’t require blowing up modern markets. It requires aligning the legal structure with what ordinary Americans reasonably believe they own.

The next financial crisis will arrive sooner or later. What’s already set is the legal framework that will govern when it does.

If Americans believe they directly own the assets in their retirement accounts, the law should reflect that expectation — before the next crisis tests it.

​Stock market, Market crash, Savings, Retirement accounts, Uniform commercial code, Financial crisis, Opinion & analysis, Ownership 

When BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey first publicly questioned the narrative surrounding dinosaurs, she was called “dangerous” and “disgusting” for attempting to poke holes in paleontology.

But that response only made her “more resolved” in her skepticism.

“It is not that I don’t think that giant animals existed a long time ago. It is just that I don’t think we know what they looked like and that we don’t know what they sounded like. I know we’ve got fossils and different things like that. We actually don’t have any complete fossil of a T-Rex, for example,” she explains.

“We’re just kind of going a little bit on deductive reasoning and vibes. We definitely don’t know that they had scales. We definitely don’t know what a pterodactyl sounded like, and we’re all just supposed to believe it because ‘the science,’” she continues.

And the latest Netflix docuseries “The Dinosaurs” isn’t putting Stuckey’s beliefs to rest either.

“Earth, 66 million years ago during the great reign of the dinosaurs. Majestic creatures, giants and monsters, that can often seem more imagined than real,” Morgan Freeman says in a clip from the docuseries.

“That was an Easter egg right there from Morgan Freedom, that they seem more imagined than real, because they are,” Stuckey comments.

As Morgan Freeman continues to narrate, he also continues to make grand claims about breeds of dinosaurs, which Stuckey points out may as well have the same bone structures as chickens.

“This is a fantasy they have. This is the paleontologist version of ‘Lord of the Rings,’” Stuckey says.

“They Darwined a little too hard, and they came up with this world, and we’re all supposed to trust these people,” she says.

“I saw someone on Instagram say, ‘You’ll believe in the Ankylosaurus, but you won’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord?’” she continues.

“You have faith, atheist. You do. You might have more faith than me, because you watch this documentary, and you’re like, ‘This for sure happened,’” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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A high school student is accused of a massive sextortion scheme that allegedly involved coercing underage victims to film themselves having sex.

Investigators say that 18-year-old Zachariah Abraham Meyers posed as an attractive adult film star from the Netherlands on social media platforms that included Snapchat and TikTok.

One of the victims told police they were coerced to film themselves having sex with two separate men. Ten males were filmed on school grounds.

Meyers is a senior at Peters Township High School in Pennsylvania.

After luring the underage victims to communicate with him online, Meyers then tricked them into sharing sexually explicit videos and photos with him, according to investigators.

In two cases, he demanded $500 from the victims after threatening to release the embarrassing material, according to a criminal complaint. One of those victims refused the extortion threat, and Meyers allegedly responded by sending a naked photo of the victim to the victim’s sister on Instagram.

Thirty underage boys were questioned in the investigation, and police said they identified at least 21 victims, of whom 14 sent pornographic images to Meyers. The victims range in age from 14 years old to 17 years old.

He is also alleged to have posed as a man from Arizona and an unidentified woman.

One of the victims told police they were coerced to film themselves having sex with two separate men. Ten males were filmed on school grounds.

Meyers was arrested and booked into the Washington County Jail in February and was charged with 304 felony counts that included:

Trafficking in minors;Sexual extortion;Unlawful contact with a minor;Distribution of child sexual abuse material; andCriminal use of communication facility.

Investigators said there could be additional charges as they continued to analyze the suspect’s devices.

RELATED: Two Nigerian brothers admit to sextortion scam with more than 100 victims, including Michigan teen who committed suicide

“I’m shocked!” said Jason Broveck, a parent of a student at the same high school. “I mean, it’s a lot of information to take in at once. It’s overwhelming.”

Police warned parents that they should keep their children off devices with access to online strangers or carefully monitor any online access children have.

Peters Township has about 23K residents and is located near the southwestern border of Pennsylvania.

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Call it “Hearts of Darkness 2.”

“Lost in Translation” director Sofia Coppola gave us on update on her next film, which was supposed to be a fact-based period drama with regular collaborator Kirsten Dunst. It’s not looking so good.

Harris said Nicki Minaj suffered from a severe case of misinformation, suggesting the hip-hop star may not know simple things, like ‘2+2=4.’

Coppola’s dad famously dealt with everything from typhoons, hookworm parasites, and rampant drug abuse on set to the near-fatal heart attack of his leading man while shooting “Apocalypse Now.”

Now his daughter faces something even worse: life in 2026.

“It felt too sad,” said the Hollywood scion, daughter of “Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola. “It’s confusing in these dark times. I want to offer some hope and beauty in the world, but then you also don’t want to do something shallow, because it feels like a time for deep things.”

We don’t have much information on the shelved project, but we can guess a working title: “Orange Man Really, Really Bad” …

Spidey sense

We still love Spidey.

The just-released trailer for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” racked up an impressive 718 million views in just a day. The film, once again starring Tom Holland as the web-slinger, finds our hero trying to reconnect with his former squeeze M.J. (Zendaya).

That’s a rare blast of good news from Superhero Central. Those men in tights haven’t been scoring at the box office like they once did, but Spidey remains untouched by woke nonsense. In fact, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” overdelivered on everything, from fan service to pure fun, to score nearly $2 billion worldwide.

If they can keep Dylan Mulvaney away from the set, this could be the super rebound Hollywood craves …

RELATED: ‘The Faithful’ puts focus on Bible’s female figures

Fox Broadcasting Company

Minaj’s math

At least she didn’t mention Venn diagrams.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris took a swipe at one of the few black female celebrities to embrace President Donald Trump. Empowering, no?

Harris said Nicki Minaj suffered from a severe case of misinformation, suggesting the hip-hop star may not know simple things, like “2+2=4.”

“I think that one of the things about mis- and disinformation is we have to — when we disagree with someone — take that into account in understanding that we may just not be working with the same information.”

To be fair, that might just be the wine talking …

Whoopi’s whoppers

Facts often die of loneliness on “The View.” Or they’re snuffed out with a pillow.

Earlier this week, Whoopi Goldberg got a crash course in Trump Accounts, money set aside for babies that will not only grow but teach them the wonders of our capitalistic system.

That’s called a win-win.

Not for Goldberg, who did the equivalent of putting her hands over her ears when guest co-host Sara Eisen brought up the topic. First, Goldberg complained that the panel wasn’t talking enough about solar energy.

Later, when bombarded with more information about the accounts, Goldberg waved the white flag.

“I’m sorry. For me and until he realizes how this affects all of us as citizens, it’s not enough. But we’re done talking about it,” Goldberg said.

Usually the show’s incessant cross-talk cancels out good information. This time, Goldberg personally saw to it that their audience would come away a little dumber …

ChadGPT

Val Kilmer is making a “comeback” one year after his passing.

A new project, purportedly with the blessing of some of Kilmer’s kin, will feature an AI version of the actor. The upcoming movie, dubbed “As Deep as the Grave” (a little on the nose, no?), will use generative AI to bring Kilmer back to the big screen.

The actor had wanted to star in the project several years ago, but his health complications prevented him from appearing on set.

Problem solved? And it could get creepier. A Swedish company just bought more than a majority share of the late Tina Turner’s musical catalog. According to the New York Post, Pophouse Entertainment also secured her “name, image, and likeness rights.”

And yes, the company in question has dabbled in digital avatars. Who can’t see what’s coming next?

They better be good to her …

Transwominae veritas!

Journos almost hounded John Lithgow out of one of the juiciest gigs possible.

The veteran actor will play Professor Dumbledore in the upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series for HBO Max. Lithgow is 80, an age when steady work isn’t easy to come by for an actor. And here’s a role he’s guaranteed to play for several years.

Perfect! Not so fast.

Reporters have been hounding him for months about the show, demanding that he defend working on a J.K. Rowling project. She famously created the “Harry Potter” series and doesn’t agree with the leftist shibboleth that “trans women are women.”

For that, she has been relentlessly punished. And now it’s Lithgow’s turn.

So many reporters have hounded him over the connection that he nearly quit the series. The subject has and will come up “in every interview I will ever do for the rest of my life.”

He still took the gig. Looks like the left’s favorite spell — transwominae veritas! — no longer holds the power it once did.

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The litigious hopes of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California came to a humiliating end on Friday when he dropped a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Swalwell, who is also a California gubernatorial candidate, had accused the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency of improperly accessing his private information in order to punish his anti-Trump efforts.

‘There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.’

FHFA Director Bill Pulte accused the 45-year-old of mortgage fraud and cited information gathered from the agency.

When Swalwell announced the lawsuit in Nov. 2025, he cast himself as a defender of free speech and a martyr for the cause of constitutional rights.

Four months later, he abandoned the cause.

The filing Friday said that Swalwell and Pulte had agreed to bear their own fees and costs in order to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents. To silence them,” Swalwell said when he filed the lawsuit. “There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.”

The lawsuit was scheduled to be presided over by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, a well-known critic of President Donald Trump who has been accused of political bias by the administration.

Swalwell filed to request the court to order Pulte to withdraw his criminal referral and demanded damages to be awarded for the alleged violations of the Privacy Act.

He quoted George Orwell, author of “1984” and “Animal Farm,” novels dedicated to warning against totalitarianism.

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear,” Swalwell posted.

RELATED: Trump says he will fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve if she doesn’t resign

Swalwell also cast himself as a stalwart opponent to Trump in hopes of persuading Democratic voters in California to support his campaign for governor.

The latest polling shows Swalwell taking a slight lead against the other field of Democratic candidates, but his Republican competitors are also surprisingly strong. One Democrat is expected to pull ahead as the others drop out, however.

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