Aaron Parecki

If *actual* investing in stocks is gambling then a whole lot of people are REALLY good at gambling and winning all the time.

Agreed. I don't day trade, I buy and hold for the most part. I also have Index Funds in addition to my tech and fintech positions.

I think the gambling term is overplayed as well and really only applies to people who are investing short term with companies that are not known to be generally reliable like Microsoft or Apple. Day trading, short term investing and options is definitely gambling.

I hear you. I guess what I'm saying is that it's very reasonable (IMO) to "bet" on success & the continuation of success of companies with either $1T+ valuations or or $500B+ valuations to know what they are doing. Betting on horses and jockeys that seem to always win

Sure it's a little better than blind luck, but plenty of people will argue that certain forms of gambling require skill or knowledge that can be learned too.

I guess my problem with it is there is no way you can know more than the execs at those companies, and if you did, that would be insider trading. The fact that insider trading is a term means you have to be operating on speculation by definition.

I've never suggested otherwise. But I think the gambling analogy, while popular is overplayed. The simple fact is that if you have an understanding of what you're looking at you can make educated assumptions. That's not the same as relying on luck.