People have been bullshitting us for centuries that market investing is a game of skill. If it really comes down to luck then it is gambling, and it should be treated (legally) as such.
I personally don't believe investing in the market is gambling, but even if it were, that doesn't necessarily mean you can't consistently make money from it. Some of it is luck, some of it skill.
Investing in general is about probability. An example: I am working on a deal right now.
If it goes through I put $100k at risk by investing in an asset. Absolute worst case I can resell that asset for $50k, but I can probably sell it on for $100k. Best case if everything pans out I make $3m. The chance of that happening is probably around 50%. Those are odds I like. Lots of upside, almost no downside. Some publicly traded stocks are like that.
In fact, just last night I talked to a woman who does really well at poker because she randomly pretends to be a "dumb broad" on some hands.
>> Some publicly traded stocks are like that.
Can you please give an example?
Investing is not people playing some made up game - but people playing a heavily complicated game which is also known as: the real world. This makes it fundamentally different. Even if it might be very much based on luck, I would bet on the ship with the more experienced sailor/better crew etc. and would not call that gambling.