[maest]

> Investing is betting on the competence of an executive team to run a business.

Incorrect. Public markets investing (which is what you're talking about here) is about betting that the market is undervaluing some business. This is fundamentally different from "betting on an exec team". The price matters a lot.

I mean, there's also some risk premia and some liquidity risk that you're being paid for, I guess.

But "betting on the competence of an exec team" is just wrong.

[psunavy03]

The point is that you are betting on the fundamentals of a business. Or a basket of businesses. And it's not just about whether a business is under/overvalued. That matters for growth stocks, but there are also stocks you can make scads of money on over the long term because they are boring, stable businesses that pay a consistent dividend you can then reinvest. Or boring, stable low-cost index funds that just track the market.

Gambling is the total opposite of that. Investing in an equity is saying "I have reason to believe this business or basket of businesses will continue to return profits to their shareholders." And you can do research into their financials, their industry, and so forth to make an informed decision. Gambling is just that . . . random chance in a game that's ultimately rigged against you. Investing is almost the opposite of gambling.