Do You Think Trading is Gambling?

[ivanbaj]

Quote from ElCubano:

edge smedge....I garauntee that the sun will rise tomm. Can your edge garauntee you positive money at the end of 60 trades??? nope , even if it does it can not be gauranteed...again gambling falls under a huge spectrum. All you can do is put odds/edge/whatever u want to cal it ,in ur favor and then let it roll....that in essence is a gamble.

In that case you will say that the casinos in Vegas are gambling. They can't guarantee their edge for the next X days.

The same for the insurance companies.

I think we need to accept that one side has a negative expectancy than the other. The side with the negative expectancy in the "long run" will loose. That side is gambling that it can make a profit in the short run. The other side is gambling that it can make money on the long run (if there is one).

Life is one big gamble any way you look at it.

They guy in the cubical is gambling that his time is paid properly and that he will not loose his job.

 

[ElCubano]

Quote from ivanbaj:

In that case you will say that the casinos in Vegas are gambling. They can't guarantee their edge for the next X days.

The same for the insurance companies.

You are right, they are gambling. Just becuase the odds are in your favor doesn't change the fact. And just because it is gambling doesn't mean you can't make money over the long run, but it doesn't change the fact that it is a gamble....

even if it was a sure thing...like the sun rising the next day, when you place that bet it is a gamble...and one that I would take with all the money in the world....capiche'

 

[nyustudent]

What a joke -- I've been monitoring these forums for a while now since I first found this site from a google search back in November. For a while, I thought there were people on this board who knew what they were talking about, but now that I've read through this thread I know that isn't the case.

Being a student at NYU, and being in New York, a lot of students here are very interested in the markets and this a subject that comes up a lot in classes. Last year I took a statistical theory course and a decision theory course, and this semester I'm taking a general equilibrium theory course, and this question has come up on more than one occasion in all three courses during group discussions. I can tell you that no Professor I have ever had has ever taken the position that trading is gambling. All of them have said that at best, trading has several similarities to gambling -- but nothing more. There was even an entire chapter in one of my old text books that touched reasonably well on this subject, and it layed out very clearly the differences between the two.

So for all of you on this thread who have been harassed by the so-called experts who think trading is gambling, stay strong, don't be swayed by uneducated individuals who are more interested in picking fights than learning the truth, and take some comfort in the fact that there are a lot of very educated professors with PhD's who teach at NYU who would not only completely agree with you, but would scoff at their opinions and would write them off as nothing more than lay opinions from people who don't understand the nuances of higher level thinking -- not to mention mathematics and statistics

 

[ElCubano]

Quote from nyustudent:

What a joke -- I've been monitoring these forums for a while now since I first found this site from a google search back in November. For a while, I thought there were people on this board who knew what they were talking about, but now that I've read through this thread I know that isn't the case.

Being a student at NYU, and being in New York, a lot of students here are very interested in the markets and this a subject that comes up a lot in classes. Last year I took a statistical theory course and a decision theory course, and this semester I'm taking a general equilibrium theory course, and this question has come up on more than one occasion in all three courses during group discussions. I can tell you that no Professor I have ever had has ever taken the position that trading is gambling. All of them have said that at best, trading has several similarities to gambling -- but nothing more. There was even an entire chapter in one of my old text books that touched reasonably well on this subject, and it layed out very clearly the differences between the two.

So for all of you on this thread who have been harassed by the so-called experts who think trading is gambling, stay strong, don't be swayed by uneducated individuals who are more interested in picking fights than learning the truth, and take some comfort in the fact that there are a lot of very educated professors with PhD's who teach at NYU who would not only completely agree with you, but would scoff at their opinions and would write them off as nothing more than lay opinions from people who don't understand the nuances of higher level thinking -- not to mention mathematics and statistics

look where the educated people got us....with their so called NON GAMBLING....AIG ring a bell??? with the models that were so sure housing would continue to rise that they gambled ( oops i mean invested ) even more....oh no the hedge funds that blew up on that bet had an edge alright....

 

[BSAM]

Quote from nyustudent:

What a joke -- I've been monitoring these forums for a while now since I first found this site from a google search back in November. For a while, I thought there were people on this board who knew what they were talking about, but now that I've read through this thread I know that isn't the case.

Being a student at NYU, and being in New York, a lot of students here are very interested in the markets and this a subject that comes up a lot in classes. Last year I took a statistical theory course and a decision theory course, and this semester I'm taking a general equilibrium theory course, and this question has come up on more than one occasion in all three courses during group discussions. I can tell you that no Professor I have ever had has ever taken the position that trading is gambling. All of them have said that at best, trading has several similarities to gambling -- but nothing more. There was even an entire chapter in one of my old text books that touched reasonably well on this subject, and it layed out very clearly the differences between the two.

So for all of you on this thread who have been harassed by the so-called experts who think trading is gambling, stay strong, don't be swayed by uneducated individuals who are more interested in picking fights than learning the truth, and take some comfort in the fact that there are a lot of very educated professors with PhD's who teach at NYU who would not only completely agree with you, but would scoff at their opinions and would write them off as nothing more than lay opinions from people who don't understand the nuances of higher level thinking -- not to mention mathematics and statistics

FUUNNEE

 

[ElCubano]

Quote from nyustudent:

Last year I took a statistical theory course and a decision theory course, and this semester I'm taking a general equilibrium theory course, and this question has come up on more than one occasion in all three courses during group discussions.

and yet you still can't gaurantee us that TRADING will make you any money in the long run...

 

[SCI new york]

Quote from nyustudent:

What a joke -- I've been monitoring these forums for a while now since I first found this site from a google search back in November. For a while, I thought there were people on this board who knew what they were talking about, but now that I've read through this thread I know that isn't the case.

Being a student at NYU, and being in New York, a lot of students here are very interested in the markets and this a subject that comes up a lot in classes. Last year I took a statistical theory course and a decision theory course, and this semester I'm taking a general equilibrium theory course, and this question has come up on more than one occasion in all three courses during group discussions. I can tell you that no Professor I have ever had has ever taken the position that trading is gambling. All of them have said that at best, trading has several similarities to gambling -- but nothing more. There was even an entire chapter in one of my old text books that touched reasonably well on this subject, and it layed out very clearly the differences between the two.

So for all of you on this thread who have been harassed by the so-called experts who think trading is gambling, stay strong, don't be swayed by uneducated individuals who are more interested in picking fights than learning the truth, and take some comfort in the fact that there are a lot of very educated professors with PhD's who teach at NYU who would not only completely agree with you, but would scoff at their opinions and would write them off as nothing more than lay opinions from people who don't understand the nuances of higher level thinking -- not to mention mathematics and statistics

First of all rookie, who are YOU and how much trading do YOU do?
Sencond haven't you heard the expression those who can't do, teach? You realize your PhD, masters in 47 different bullshit topic professors are not traders, right? Have they ever even been involved in trading? Have they ever been in the pits? Just because a guy buys a few shares of GE in his little scottrade account all of a sudden he thinks hes warren buffets protege. Those professors feed off all kinds of horseshit about economics and whatever other shit that they read in a book from some other hack who couldnt handle trading and be successful so he got a PhD and wrote books. Their opinion matters about as much as asking a toddler for advice on the market. Your the biggest fool for spending all that money on a college education that you could have gotten at the public library.

This forum isnt filled with idiots, although it does have some. If you can tell the difference there are great people and loads of information to learn that is useful for traders. If you can't see the difference then you're a hack and get yourself a masters and a kardigan sweater and write a book on the failed economics and banking structure of corporate america and become a teacher because you couldn't possibly last as a trader.
I may make a jab here and there at some guys, but I don't do it with malice. People have thier opinions and I have mine, its a discussion forum. You want to come in here and insult people and thier lack of knowledge/education when you have no idea what you're getting into. If you're not a trader, don't waste your time being one, you won't last. Donate that money to a charity or something, do something good with it. If you are a trader, thank you for being an ATM for the rest of us. And you're an idiot.

 

[nyustudent]

Quote from SCI new york:

First of all rookie, who are YOU and how much trading do YOU do?
Sencond haven't you heard the expression those who can't do, teach?

I don't need to do any trading at all to be able to answer a question as simple as the one asked on this thread. Its like a kindergarten level question thats not even a difficult question, or one in which there is really any debate on. Its been written about many many times in many books, journals, and research papers by many respectable people most of which you can find at any respectable university library. All you're really doing is proving that you don't know what you're talking about.

I would actually respond to the rest of what you wrote and to the two knuckle-heads who posted that meaningless drivel before you if I thought that your posts were anything more than a childish hoax. Obviously you guys aren't real traders because real traders wouldn't be making arguments that are contrary to positions that almost every other educated person who is qualified to speak on this topic has taken. Also, if your trading careers were anything more than either pathetic or non-existent, I think you would probably be focusing on trading and making money in the middle of the trading day instead of spouting your ignorance on some stupid message board.

You, and the users who posted right before you, remind me of those types of people who believe puns when people say them. Its like at some point in your lives you heard someone say that life was a gamble, and ever since then you actually believed it -- literally.

 

[Dackster]

Quote from nyustudent:

What a joke -- I've been monitoring these forums for a while now since I first found this site from a google search back in November. For a while, I thought there were people on this board who knew what they were talking about, but now that I've read through this thread I know that isn't the case.

Being a student at NYU, and being in New York, a lot of students here are very interested in the markets and this a subject that comes up a lot in classes. Last year I took a statistical theory course and a decision theory course, and this semester I'm taking a general equilibrium theory course, and this question has come up on more than one occasion in all three courses during group discussions. I can tell you that no Professor I have ever had has ever taken the position that trading is gambling. All of them have said that at best, trading has several similarities to gambling -- but nothing more. There was even an entire chapter in one of my old text books that touched reasonably well on this subject, and it layed out very clearly the differences between the two.

So for all of you on this thread who have been harassed by the so-called experts who think trading is gambling, stay strong, don't be swayed by uneducated individuals who are more interested in picking fights than learning the truth, and take some comfort in the fact that there are a lot of very educated professors with PhD's who teach at NYU who would not only completely agree with you, but would scoff at their opinions and would write them off as nothing more than lay opinions from people who don't understand the nuances of higher level thinking -- not to mention mathematics and statistics

Haha! Nice post! Now you've really got the baboons annoyed and angry....look how they're attacking the bars of thier cage....hahaha!


Funny.

 

[Pekelo]

Gambling: is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods.

Sounds like trading, but please people keep it up, this is a very entertaining thread!

P.S.: To classify as gambling you don't always need the house. If we keep betting between you and me on coinflips that is still gambling without the presence of the house.
In trading the house would be, of course your broker...