A third term, 'speculating', is often used to straddle the two, specifically to handle activities that would ordinarily be considered investing but are done in a way that make them feel more like gambling. Investing in Stocks Equates to Gambling. This reasoning causes many people to shy away from the stock market. To understand why investing in stocks is inherently different from gambling, we need to review what it means to buy stocks. A share of common stock represents ownership in a company. QUESTION: Thomas in Arizona invests in the stock market, but a friend at church says that is like gambling. Dave is happy to explain why he disagrees, and he defines what gambling is. ANSWER: He doesn’t get to define gambling. He’s not Webster’s just because he wants to be a cynic. Firstly, investing can potentially be gambling if you have no clue what you are doing, and how to invest in the stock market. (This is why I always emphasis the importance of investing in yourself first). Secondly, someone might potentially be losing their opportunity to get 20% gains or even more a year just by assuming that investing is gambling. There is a common belief, especially among the more risk-averse segment of the population, that investing in the stock market is more like gambling than investing. Given the volatility of the stock market over the past decade, it's understandable that people might believe this. However, simply put, these people are wrong. Here's why. Knowing this, we should also know that simply getting into the market and letting it work is one of the best ways to grow our wealth. Investing in the stock market is like owning a casino. Actively trading, failing to do any due diligence, and concentrating into a handful of unresearched investments is like trying to get rich playing video poker. Careful evaluation and analysis of each stock can help make you more successful, whether you are investing in the penny stock market or more expensive choices. Playing the stock market is like gambling, but the difference is that your choices and efforts can change the odds in your favor.
Just as investing is not limited to financial markets, gambling is not restricted to casinos and football. The people who own teams in the National Football League have made a great investment – Stock market investing contributes to production — it is the taking on of risk as part of providing a valuable service. Because gambling is consumption, a gambler can expect to lose money, on average. An investor in the stock market can expect a considerable return, on average. The Problem with Gambling Once someone is involved in the financial markets, there is a learning curve, which based on the social proofing discussion above may seem like it is gambling. This may or may not be true based on
For most, investing means putting money in the stock market if you've little savings and are heavily indebted, gambling on stock markets could be bad money from other investors (like you) to go and buy a job lot of shares in a stock market. Just as investing is not limited to financial markets, gambling is not restricted to casinos and football. The people who own teams in the National Football League have made a great investment – Stock market investing contributes to production — it is the taking on of risk as part of providing a valuable service. Because gambling is consumption, a gambler can expect to lose money, on average. An investor in the stock market can expect a considerable return, on average. The Problem with Gambling Once someone is involved in the financial markets, there is a learning curve, which based on the social proofing discussion above may seem like it is gambling. This may or may not be true based on Investing in stocks is a business transaction. It does not matter if you buy stock in a single company or buy hundreds of different stocks in a mutual fund. It is a business transaction because the investor is buying ownership in a company or group of companies. It is only a small fraction of ownership, Investing in the stock market is not gambling. Equating the stock market to gambling is a myth that is simply not true. Both involve risk and each look to maximize profit, but investing is not gambling.
2 Jan 2020 Answer: There are those who oppose investment in the stock market, types of investing, such as day-trading, are very much like gambling.
19 Feb 2016 Here is a time series (smoothed) of the percentage of individual value and growth stocks beating the market. value growth wining. Just like the 21 Mar 2018 I have heard many people say investing in stocks is like gambling in Likewise, not every risk is known in the stock market; therefore it can't be 15 Feb 2018 Another explanation is that investors trade simply because they like it (Black, 1996), directly deriving utility from their trading activities, For