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I don't think trading is the same as speculating. To me, speculating is making big directional bets, eg "I think oil is underpriced right now, so i am going to buy loads of oil futures, then hope that in three months i can sell them at a much higher price". Whereas trading is usually much shorter-term and less directional, eg "I think French government bonds are overpriced relative to German government bonds right now, so i am going to get short French bond futures, buy an equivalent amount of German cash bonds, then hope that in a couple of days i can unwind that for a profit". And investing is "people like to drink Coca-Cola, so i will buy shares in the Coca-Cola company".

But i don't think there are hard and fast definitions.



Yeah, some people use "trading" and "speculating" in the exactly opposite way than you do. Some equate speculating and trading entirely: a trader is someone who buys something not for personal use but for further resale, and of course they hope to sell at a higher price, duh.




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