Online Stock Trading vs. Online Poker

[SGspecial]

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I think the argument that the OP is making is that I, having no skill at investing, can risk/gamble tons of my own money daily with my online broker without any due diligence. I can, for example, randomly pick stocks available for trade with my broker. Heck I can even assign randomly stocks from my effective universe of the NYSE, AMEX, and OTCBB names and throw then on a roulette wheel. Then pick my investments based on a spin. I could throw options and due this on margin if I wanted to.

I'm sure someone can show examples of people who are addicted to day trading, and how it's had a negative effect on lives for that matter.

Does't the book "Random Walk Down Wallstreet" prove on a daily basis stock movement is random - and determined by the luck of the draw?

If the argument here is that long terms experts have been shown to make a profit, we all know the same holds for poker.


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Sorry Cake, my boy, Raven beat you to it:

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/St...=&minisite=

I guess that may be the decisive point in the argument, unless someone has actually figured out how to teach a monkey to win at poker (Mike Matusow excluded)

[SGspecial]

http://www.karvy.com/articles/monkeyport.htm

is another great link. All hail the monkeys! Gods of stock selection! Is this how "Planet of the Apes" happened, when the monkeys finally realized they could suck up all the equity in the stock markets and enslave us?

There's still one thing I don't get about the original quote from "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" which states, "A blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a newspaper's financial pages could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one carefully selected by the experts."

Why does the monkey have to be blindfolded?? Are they so skilled at both stock selection AND darts that they could skew the experiment by aiming at "Google" and "Microsoft" on purpose?? If this is true, then SURELY it must be legal for monkeys to play poker, at least in NC.

[Piece of Cake]

[/ QUOTE ]Sorry Cake, my boy, Raven beat you to it:

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I never claimed it was my idea or I was first to propose it. And whether or not index investing is profitable even for a monkey over the long term is not an argument I wish to take up. I'm simply agreeing that I have access to gambling on a daily basis with my brokerage account.

[wpr101]

Because most people consider stock trading to be all skill when it is mostly luck. And many people consider poker to be all luck when skill is important.

[OpenWheel]

The reason they're treated differently is because those people who believe that nearly any law is constitutional as long as they get enough votes for their side (Republicans and Democrats), keep winning the elections over those of us who vote Libertarian.

[RonMexico]

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What's the difference? I'll point out a few.

1.) Investing contributes to U.S. GDP and is taxable. Offshore poker operations do not.
2.) A decent poker player can potentially have a bigger edge with less uncertainty (at modest stakes) than a "decent" investor.
3.) To almost anyone outside of poker, the difference is that poker is a game of chance and investing is a game of skill. You won't be able to convince them otherwise since they live in the real world and you are some kooky gambler.

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All of these are completely false, except the last one is not as glaringly wrong.

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LOL no they aren't. Also, you might want to try backing up your incorrect assertions with some arguments. I can't wait to hear them.

[RonMexico]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What's the difference? I'll point out a few.

1.) Investing contributes to U.S. GDP and is taxable. Offshore poker operations do not.
2.) A decent poker player can potentially have a bigger edge with less uncertainty (at modest stakes) than a "decent" investor.
3.) To almost anyone outside of poker, the difference is that poker is a game of chance and investing is a game of skill. You won't be able to convince them otherwise since they live in the real world and you are some kooky gambler.

[/ QUOTE ]
1. This is the very argument that the WTO is presenting. It's not an excuse to ban poker. I can invest via an offshore broker if I choose and I still have to pay taaxes. And they certainly can't ban only offshore brokers.
2. This is a great reason why poker is less of a gamble than the stock market.
3. You propose that people feel there's no risk in investing - I won't argue, but there's a reason why legally all those fund prospectus have that big disclaimer that says returns aren't guaranteed.

[/ QUOTE ]

1. I'm not saying that (1) is a good argument to ban poker and not investing. It's just a dumb argument that gets made by GOVT people. It is, however, a definite difference.
2. Right. If someone reads this and doesn't understand it or thinks it's wrong, then they are very confused about both poker and investing.
3. Again, I'm not supporting the claim. But by far, non-poker players will tend to think that the level of skill in investing far exceeds the level of skill involved in poker.

[pig4bill]

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Because most people consider stock trading to be all skill when it is mostly luck. And many people consider poker to be all luck when skill is important.

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You don't know what you're talking about.

Also, the government has enacted a number of laws and regulations regarding stock trading to protect the public from itself. Unless your account has $25,000 in it, you cannot buy and sell the same day more than 3 times a week. You cannot sell short in a retirement account. Mutual funds are forced to diversify. etc, etc

[DONKTARDO]

Sorry havent been around since first post. Here's a little back story so you know where im coming from:
My 18 year old brother recently liquidated a mutal fund he recieved 10 years ago, dropped all 15k onto scottrade, bought a couple books on trading, and took a shot. Its only been a few months and he has seen his his account reach as high as 33k, and drop as low as 5k. He's currently around even or whatever, but his account has seen bigger swings than my bankroll. However, the government hasnt tried to step in and save him from himself.

[RonMexico]

I don't think the issue is whether or not the government needs to protect you from making bad investments. And I certainly don't think it has anything to do with whether or not day trading should be limited/regulated/whatever. The point is more along the lines of, even if you take seemingly good, long-term investments, you still have no control over the movement of those investments. There is no guarantee that the market will continue to provide the same returns it has offered in the past, and a single, unpredictable catastrophe could devastate you. That is, the average investor is just sort of "along for the ride."