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

[Rocko1]

I know a real estate broker who's losing value consistently. He sees about 10 potential clients a day, and with each one he's got expenses with gas, cell phone time, and just opportunity cost over all.
It's been 3 months and he's gotten NO sale out of about 100 buyers he's talked to. That means a winning rate of 0% so far.

Now does that seem like gambling? He's running his business with an expectancy of way below 0. Might as well go waste it all in Vegas.

 

[zdreg]

Quote from romik:

You can trade via a conventional futures broker or bet via a spread betting firm. Trade vs Bet, same principles used in decision making, but the difference in the technicals is huge. No income TAX in betting, as betting is considered to be gambling.

********"Profits from spread bets are not taxed either as capital gains or as income.

The reason is that under current law no betting profits are taxed, and the reason for that is that if the Revenue taxed profits they'd also have to let people offset betting losses! As more people lose money betting than make it, the Revenue's coffers fill quicker by having no tax on betting gains/losses than by having them.

Of course, the absence of CGT is only relevant to people whose annual gains are likely to exceed the annual exemption, but that threshold is within sight for many investors.

There is betting duty paid on spread bets, but this is almost always paid for by the indexation companies out of their profits, so you don't need to worry about it."*************

EDIT: So statistically the majority lose, Inland Revenue confirms this by making such laws for betting (including financial) therefore for the majority it is a gamble, BUT for the majority of voters on ET it's not a gamble. Amazing

why are cfd more popular than spread bets

 

[booking]

With gambling you bet against the odds. Any decent trader will trade with the odds - that's the difference.

 

[qxr1011]

Quote from kjkent1:

Trading exactly meets the legal definition of gambling

agree

 

[cgroupman]

Quote from qxr1011:Quote from kjkent1:

Trading exactly meets the legal definition of gambling

agree

Interesting that when they put together the ban on Internet gambling that they specifically left out the securities trading business. If you're regulated by the SEC or CFTC, then you're exempt. Makes one wonder?

c

 

[romik]

Quote from zdreg:

why are cfd more popular than spread bets

I didn't know they were, if anything I see more benefit in trading through a spread bet firm, if you are a UK resident. CFDs are pretty much like futures but on stocks where you put up a 10% margin, in spreads you have a margin which is a variable multiple to your stake per point, on S&P $50 per point x 50 (IMR) = $2500 margin per $50 stake and no Income tax, earnings from CFDs are taxable.

 

[qxr1011]

Quote from cgroupman:

Interesting that when they put together the ban on Internet gambling that they specifically left out the securities trading business. If you're regulated by the SEC or CFTC, then you're exempt. Makes one wonder?

c

It surely does

 

[Mvic]

Depends how you trade.

 

[damianoakley]

Quote from ElectricSavant:

Is it Gambling

Or Not

Any business venture is a gamble if you manage the venture badly and don't do all you can to develop expertise in your chosen field.

Trading is a business venture like any other and, if taken seriously through careful planning and risk management, is not a gamble.

The gamblers in trading (or any other business) are those that take too much risk with their capital and focus too much on what they could gain instead of what they could lose.


Thanks

Damian
U.S. Share Trader

 

[Don Bright]

Quote from damianoakley:

Any business venture is a gamble if you manage the venture badly and don't do all you can to develop expertise in your chosen field.

Trading is a business venture like any other and, if taken seriously through careful planning and risk management, is not a gamble.

The gamblers in trading (or any other business) are those that take too much risk with their capital and focus too much on what they could gain instead of what they could lose.


Thanks

Damian
U.S. Share Trader

Darn good post...if only the few "friends" here on ET would understand that this is just a business, with individual rewards and risk based on the person's own choices. Good job!

Don