A record number of Americans own stock.

The New York Stock Exchange released a survey showing that 47 million Americans have stock investments. But the survey, taken in mid-1985, found that the increase in the “shareholder population” over the past couple of years has occurred through mutual funds rather than direct investments in stocks. The exchange data showed declines of 2.9% in the number of direct owners of NYSE-listed stocks and of 18.4% in the number of investors in over-the-counter stocks.