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Why is the word "investor" used when it's very clear the proper word is "speculator"?
Karlof1, traders in commodities as well as day traders and short term traders in stocks and bonds are usually referred to as speculators. However, by a wide margin, most equities as well as bonds, the buyers and sellers are usually investors. If you have a mutual fund then you are an investor. If you hold a stock or bond for over six months then you are referred to as an investor.
Clearly it is a matter of semantics but by a very large margin, most equities are held by investors and institutions owned by investors. Of course it probably would be better to say "investors and speculators" but if one chooses to use only one word, concerning equities, then investors is the better word.
Ron Patterson
institutions may be long term investors, but shorter term price trends have increasingly been set by hedge funds and (per Bill Cara) HB&B- humongous banks and brokers, i.e., the goldman sachs of the "investment" world. stock margin is at an all time high on the NYSE, yen carry trade is enormous, derivatives growth is exponential, etc, etc, this is the engine of speculation. currently there are so many exponential blowoff stock charts it boggles the mind! the rational mind that inhabits TOD would probably agree that financial markets are and have been in a speculative frenzy. further, if inflation is running around 5% which even the Economist asserted, then longer term u.s. treasuries hold no value currently, particularly given the public statements of weimar ben.
jbunt
karlof - I guess that taking money from under the mattress is speculating!
karlof, i "get" your post. given the current stock market bubble, it would appear that these "investors" are mostly of the greater fool variety.