Speculation is often associated with a gamble with a zero (or sometimes negative) expected return (exp. gambling on sports, speculating on future exchange rates, or commodity prices). Investing on the other hand is associated with a transaction with an expected positive return (invest in stock market). Why would people speculate?
People speculate in hope of higher capital appreciation than Investing. More so, it is the risk appetite of the individual: for those who are risk-averse, they make to choose transaction with a small but postive return, while risk-loving people might still chose to invest in a stock of which they have little or no knowledge, but anticipation of outperformance.
Although, investing is also a kind of speculation: you know nothing about the future price of stocks you buy, or the dividends they may yield. Since these gains are discretionary, stocks in a way can be called speculative too.
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