Quote Originally Posted by Freightman View Post
The stock market is not that much different, though one doesn’t have that nasty little min bet to worry about, qthough I think it tends to be a zero sum game. One party must win, one party must lose, and the facilitators get paid regardless of outcome.
That's not quite true. The options and futures markets are zero-sum games, but the stock market isn't. Suppose company A goes public tomorrow and issues a million shares at $10 a share, which the public buys. Tomorrow, the stock goes up to $12 a share. The public just made $2 million. Who lost that money? Answer: no one. Wealth was created. Sometimes wealth is destroyed. But the stock market isn't a zero-sum game.

Don