[nish1500]

Trading on the stock market (by and large) doesn't create value. If someone makes a killing, it's because someone lost it. You hear about those who make money - because it's the story you 'want' to hear.

People don't understand how money comes from value created, in the long run. People think they can game the system. Everyone feels they are not a part of the average.

[friedman23]

>If someone makes a killing, it's because someone lost it

Not true, companies can create value, that value is reflected in the stock price. The economy is not zero sum. Did all the people that got rich off of apple, google, microsoft, nvidia, etc get rich because someone else lost money?

[nish1500]

Exactly! Which is why my comment talks about 'Trading' not 'Investing'.

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/12/difference-inves...

[rootshelled]

Those companies got value via selling products with a margin to their customers. So, technically their customers lost money for those companies to gain money.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just pointing out how I think your logic is flawed.

[anonymouse008]

Eh, depends on how you defined ‘lost’ a lot of money —

Many of the calls that have hit recently only capped out people’s gains - so yes there was an opportunity cost to that lost, but people didn’t literally lose invested capital. Not as much money as you think has gone into the red this year - even on the way down.

[refurb]

Trading creates liquidity, which supports a healthy capital market which companies can access for capital.

[bsanr2]

(I mean so does heavy taxation of capital ~hoarders~ holders, to be redistributed among the country's labor base, who will then tend to spend it immediately on goods or personal investment, but we don't talk about that.

OR

The point of liquidity is to get people doing things, but the status quo today seems more like giant firms trading above our heads to manage the risk of rent-seeking on an increasingly precariously-positioned consumer class.)

[refurb]

Neither of your points seem based on an accurate understanding of the financial markets.

[bsanr2]

I don't know why another user's comment,

Neither of his points seem based on Economic dogma shoved down your throat during undergrad.

was flagged, as it was neither inflammatory nor uncouth, but I agree with it. You seem to have an entirely elementary conception of the market and an inability to understand the ways those assumptions have fallen apart in the face of market and regulatory conditions.