Interesting article about Cantor Gaming

Finally proof that gambling and stock trading are the same thing :)

Also some interesting info about their C.E.O. who was convicted of cocaine dealing back in the '80s:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/12/24/taking-risks-making-odds/?scp=1&sq=cantor%20gaming&st=cse

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the stock market is a thing, not an activity.

Invvesting in stocks is not gambling for the simple reason that the outcome is not determined by random factors. To be sure the factors that determine the outcome contain a high degree of uncertainty, making it a risky investment. But it's not gambling. If you need proof, stock investors tend to make money, because their investments are put into productive uses (exploiting mines, building houses, making cars, delivering packages, etc, etc, etc), which increase the wealth of the companies receiving the moneys.

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The stock market is becoming more and more like a casino. I am reading a book now called "The Big Short" about traders around the time of the big real estate bubble-pop. They didn't really trade stocks at all -- they made "side bets" on the price movements of securities and other bond instruments. It was more like a casino than a casino! The author uses a ton of gambling references, also.

I think just buying or selling stocks is "pure" investing and probably not gambling. But most day-traders/speculators/currency traders/options traders don't care about the market or investing and are just making bets.

William Hill, a UK bookmakers, has recently added Day Trading to its online offerings. That makes it gambling to me.

I don't know that I would call the stock market "gambling." "Speculating" is a better word. I do accept the correlation of the stock market and sports betting. In both you take available information and bet on an outcome of a human-controlled event. But these statements of news anchors and politicians of Wall Street being "one big casino" are wrong. In a casino you are betting against the house, which will take all comers (within reason eg: high rollers) for rules the house has set down that favor the house. In Wall Street you are either buying a chance someone has sold you on via an IPO or else buying from someone who no longer believes in that bet. In the casino action is always available for a set price. In Wall Street trades cannot happen unless someone agrees to take the other side of the bet.

However, it is not in dispute that what makes a good trader makes a good gambler. Once I looked at day-trading slot and the guy told me when conditions on the floor were not good to trade lots of traders went to play online poker. Wish I could have that career!