Is trading Gambling or not .."What say You" Vote here.

I vote for gambling, albeit reluctantly.

It's all about expectancies and after commissions, datafeeds, computer costs and slippage, the expectancy is negative for the trader as it is for the casino gambler. That doesn't mean there won't be winners in the trading game, but we know what those percentages are (<5%).

 

If you bet on a horse, that's gambling. If you bet you can make three spades, that's entertainment. If you bet cotton will go up three points, that's business. See the difference? -- Blackie Sherrod (ref)

 

This thread had been idle for 8 months - is it really time to resurrect this argument again?

 

Lottery tickets is gambling. $1 can get you millions.

Poker: $50 can get you thousands

Trading: $5000 can get you $10,000+

Working: raise can get you 4% return.

my point is that poker is relatively more gambling than trading. even highly leveraged contracts generally won't pay out like it if you hit it big with poker, or the lottery.

the feeling of gambling is another issue. Of course i've sold/bought stock long-term or speculative, and then it immediately went the wrong way, after my 40 hours of analysis.

sure, that can feel like gambling. But, then we might as well say everything is gambling. there is always a small percentage that things work out differently. i guess except in math. 1+1 is 2.

time to drink some water. 0.000000000001 percent chance it kills me. i'm "gambling". lol

 

gam&#8901;ble&#8194; &#8194;/&#712;gæmb&#601;l/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [gam-buhl] Show IPA Pronunciation
verb, -bled, -bling, noun
–verb (used without object) 1. to play at any game of chance for money or other stakes.
2. to stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance: to gamble on a toss of the dice.
–verb (used with object) 3. to lose or squander by betting (usually fol. by away): He gambled all his hard-earned money away in one night.
4. to wager or risk (money or something else of value): to gamble one's freedom.
5. to take a chance on; venture; risk: I'm gambling that our new store will be a success.
–noun 6. any matter or thing involving risk or hazardous uncertainty.
7. a venture in a game of chance for stakes, esp. for high stakes


I guess it is gambling but who cares? Why does gambling have a negative conotation? Without gambling or risk there would be no returns in any kind of business.

 

um yeah... its gambling!

the problem with traders is they hate being called gamblers even thought that is exactly what they do. there's nothing wrong with it, call it 'calculated risk' what ever makes you feel better.

now if you have some system that guarantees you profit then maybe that's not gambling and good for you.

but any trader that trades discretionary methods is a red faced gambler.

lol i dunno what 'red face' means in that context but it seems to fit.

and its you!


the banks gambled with their system of calculating sub-prime paper... so if that's gambling, trading is not?

 

my understanding is that gambling is the creation of new risk, while trading is the assumption of existing risk. This is the only distinction between the two I can think of...

 

Is Trading a game?

Is Gambling scalable?

Can some trading be more of a gamble than other trading?

Is arbitration or Market Making a gamble?...is it trading?

Wifey

 

Anytime you go in business for yourself its a gamble

 

Why do some Gamblers qualify for bail-outs?

Could Gambling be based on the "who you know" factor?
Could having the "edge" in trading be the same thing as "who you know"?

Wifey