Heh. Food for thought.

[Adam]

[Billy Jingo]

I see little difference in the stock market and the lottery except the levels of risk.

[scott]

I see little difference in the stock market and the lottery except the levels of risk.

Telling, since your view on economics boils down to ideological bias rooted in ignorance.

[JB]

I see little difference in the stock market and the lottery except the levels of risk.

Of that I have no doubt.

[Curiosity's Dead Cat]

I see little difference in the stock market and the lottery except the levels of risk.

Interesting comment. Since there is no information that will help you win the lottery and it is based completely on chance, the levels of risk are very high and the potential returns are very low. Stocks on the other hand are not random and there is plenty of info available for all on a registered exchange. Investing in mutual funds has very low risk due to diversification. All you need is a government interested in letting the private sector grow, or failing that, have the markets in the EU, Japan, and China teeter on the edge of implosion.

[Norm dePlume]

Interesting comment. Since there is no information that will help you win the lottery and it is based completely on chance, the levels of risk are very high and the potential returns are very low. Stocks on the other hand are not random and there is plenty of info available for all on a registered exchange. Investing in mutual funds has very low risk due to diversification. All you need is a government interested in letting the private sector grow, or failing that, have the markets in the EU, Japan, and China teeter on the edge of implosion.

So it's more like the horse track, then?

[Adam]

So it's more like the horse track, then?

No, it's more like a stock market, where people get to make informed decisions about their investments.

[Norm dePlume]

No, it's more like a stock market, where people get to make informed decisions about their investments.

People betting at the track can be well-informed. That's why they publish the racing form.

[scott]

So it's more like the horse track, then?

Only if you own part of many horses in the race and even last place has the potential to pay.

[Norm dePlume]

Only if you own part of many horses in the race and even last place has the potential to pay.

Derivatives are bets, straight up. If I short a stock and you go long on the same stock for the same time frame, one of us will lose.

[Adam]

You're right, Norm. We should just abolish the stock market. It's nothing but a roulette wheel and for every winner there is a loser, because it's a zero-sum game. No longer should people be able to invest in companies that they think have solid potential for growth. We need to get rid of all of those investments by teachers' pensions and the like, too. Get rid of everyone's 401(k), because they're just gambling and every time someone "wins" with their 401(k), it means that a blind Jewish Black woman in a wheelchair loses everything she ever earned.



Or maybe, just maybe, there's actually more to this than Bok's and your ludicrous over-simplification. That would certainly explain why the overwhelming majority of investors in the last hundred years or so have come out very well in the long run.

[scott]

Derivatives are bets, straight up. If I short a stock and you go long on the same stock for the same time frame, one of us will lose.

So are you saying that the derivatives market is the same as the stock market?

And are you confusing the word "market" with the actual "stock market?"

[gary m]

People betting at the track can be well-informed. That's why they publish the racing form.

Having been around owners of pacers, trotters and thoroughbreds, I can tell you that except for some of the more important races, 90% of them are decided in the paddock before the horses ever make it to the gate. The racing form is just a way for the publishers to make a few bucks and keep the bettors guessing.

[Norm dePlume]

So are you saying that the derivatives market is the same as the stock market?

And are you confusing the word "market" with the actual "stock market?"

Derivatives are part of the stock market. But there are also derivatives in commodities markets and credit markets.

[Norm dePlume]

Having been around owners of pacers, trotters and thoroughbreds, I can tell you that except for some of the more important races, 90% of them are decided in the paddock before the horses ever make it to the gate. The racing form is just a way for the publishers to make a few bucks and keep the bettors guessing.

Inside information also plays a part in the stock market.