Quote from Wide Tailz:
1. You invest in young pharmaceutical company
2. You happen to pick the company that has found a cure for the common cold (or a real world example: RPRX with its testosterone replacement drug)
3. Since this company has enabled millions of people to remain in the work place, there is a positive macroeconomic effect beyond trading accounts
4. This logic can be applied to any company with a new invention that raises the economic output of the macro economy.
*edit - getting back to trading accounts, since this hypothetical company experiences huge sales and earnings growth on a continual basis, the share price rises in proportion to whatever multiple The Market agrees is fair for a company of its type. Then, years later, it stabilizes and begins to pay dividends. The share price reflects this positive (absolutely not zero sum) cash flow that is generated by productive economic activity.
Bottom up investing........ (and yes RPRX has doubled in less than a year, I only wish I had the foresight to pile in and stay in once it got going)