It depends how you define gambling. The public misconception is that gambling doesn't require skills. In some way, trading is comparable to gambling in that, 1. There is a big part of it out of your control and subject to luck of God. 2. Equipped with skills, you can win consistently.
If you are a gambler you are doing it wrong and going to blow up eventually. If you are the house you know your edge, its LIMITATIONS, and how to apply it. So in a since it is gambling.
Any time you put your money at risk, you are gambling! Many like to think that it is not gambling, for whatever reasons they have, but a fact is a fact, no matter how hard we try to ignore it. Acceptance can help a trader discover how the markets really work, and not be prone to the illusion that the majority are exposed to, for obvious reasons. As a matter of fact, casino gambling can be far less risky than trading, as in a casino when you place your bet, you know exactly how much you will lose! In trading, if you do not make a concious decision to "place your bet", then you are playing with fire, and when you play with fire, you can expect to get burned.
I will have to disagree with the luck bit. Every outcome, or event, happens for a reason, and very briefly, it can be explanined by Cause & Effect. If you believe in luck, you are in effect wishing and hoping, and we all know what wishing and hoping can do to a trading account! When luck is replaced with conviction, it becomes clear that the markets do what they do for a reason. If you want to take money from other traders, then it may be wise to know what your odds are before you start, so that you can place the right size bet for the particular trade in question.
Many "investors" are in it for thrills and deny it is gambling. If you do not have an edge (and 90% of stock investors do not) you are a gambler- not an investor/trader. Most stock investors are compulsive gamblers, but would deny it if you asked them.
If your edge is realising the fact that trading is gambling, then you are not a gambler, even though you are gambling?
I will give a typical example of a recent bet I placed. My thoughts were such, after looking at a particular market for a period of time, that I could now place a bet for about $5.5K, that if my bet won, I would make in excess of $250K. This to me, was worth the bet, and I placed it. Now, many will wonder if the bet won or not, and I will give the answer later, as the trade is finished, but the point is, I looked, worked out the odds, and placed the bet, knowing 100%, that no matter how good I am at trading this market, the bet can go either way, and maybe even make $300K+!
virtually every thing in life is a gamble, whether its marriage, having kids, driving the car etc. all human activity has some form of risk associated with it.
Well of course Trading is gambling. Its actually very easy for anyone to see as the results are so in your face. Your trades may have a postive edge or negative but that doesnt change the fact its still a gamble. I think the whole question is rather silly for traders to be debating. You get into your car and drive to work. Its a gamble, you decide the risk outweighs the reward. Usually your right but sometimes your wife gets to be able to afford a nice looking poolboy. You eat at Wendys and not Taco Johns. Taco Johns has a food issue that you didnt get because you ate at Wendys and your wife doesn't get the new poolboy but you bring home a check for your able to continue to work. You marry a stripper because she is more flexable than the other girl your dating. You come home early from work and find out your wife is getting the poolboy so you divorce and she gets the house, and half your paycheck because getting married is a gamble also.......