swoydaz said:
Nobody is forced into buying bullion.
We are not obliged to enter any market.
I see it as gambling.
I buy and sell chips erratically.
My stake is worth "x" one day and "y" the next.
Nobody complains when "y" is greater than "x".
This isn't a lecture nor is it to have you feel bad.
Simply a statement of what I believe to be fact.
Gambling starts with a situation where no risk exist before the act of gambling, ex pushing the lever of a slotmachine. You can't lose if you don't play. No risk.
Speculation starts with an existing risk. Someone buys something that he thinks demand will go up later and supply will not be enough, causing price increases, and thus a gain for the one that buys ahead. If the speculators act was correct, then he gains due to the higher price, and the stock he created will prevent the price from going higher, thus also benefitting the demand side. And vice versa, the moment he buys the stock, he will prevent the price from going lower. In the end: a more stable price.
What I talk about here is none of both. It's just outspeeding others, inflicting them higher prices, misleading them to pay those higher prices, then outspeeding them to sell. Result: bigger price fluctuations, the exact opposite of what speculation causes.
So this has nothing to do with force / obligations. It's -misleading- and -frontrunning-, quite often with some help of the ones running/managing the story, for a fee, for a favor, whatever. Also privileged in one or more ways.
It's not harder than this. Complaints/lectures/erratics/gambling/feel bad? My answer: yawn.
