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Negative savings rate?

Negative savings rate?
I keep hearing this negative spin on how America has a negative savings rate. But I don't believe investments are included in this number. You could say that I personally have a negative savings rate because I don't have a savings account, but is it really a negative savings if you put your hard earned money into investments rather than a savings account...and let the bank make money on investments? And I think a lot of Americans think like me, so why do we get such a bad reputation for investing rather than saving?
PS...should a rainy day come I can still liquidate some my investments and because I invest in myself, chances are getting slimer that I will have that rainy day....is this a bad thing? Why the bad reputation?
Thanks Stocker as that did help me understand better, but I still get the feeling that it is still not a very good indicator in todays economy. Two examples I believe could contribute to this negative rate; 1) My corp. paid for most of my living expenses and therefor I didn't make much income. And I borrowed $ by using margin in my investment account. 2)Grandpa, who bought his home for 50k yrs ago, took out an equity loan on his, now valued 500K home, in order to a)start a new business b)invest in stocks of which he is also considered borrowing because he's using margin. Did we just contribute to that negative savings rate? And again, especially since the recessive economy in 2001, I believe many Americans have started their own business, doing pretty much what Grandpa and I have done. I do understand many incur debts buying clothes, cars etc, but not to the extent the neg savings rate suggests.