Yes, he was capturing value for his clients, and getting paid some of that. That isn't the same thing as doing something that increases the amount of wealth in the economy, which was my point.
The entire point of the stock market is to get capital to companies to allow them to do things that may increase wealth (could be local, state, country or globally). Successfully doing this means the companies he supported did well.
> The entire point of the stock market is to get capital to companies
Only if the shares are newly-issued, though.
Usually your counterparty is just someone with different cash flow needs, or who disagrees with you about the future. No benefit accrues to the company.