> I don't think the stock market is as sure to clean you out as Lost Wages, but you need to know what you're doing before you commit serious money. I think of it more like a poker table, where you can win big or lose big based on unpredictable events but there are lots of strategic ways to improve your odds and limit your exposure when you have less chance of winning.

Though the poker table analogy is better than most gambling analogies, I still don't think it's fair. Poker is a negative sum game: you can only win when others lose, and even then the house takes a cut.

The stock market, however, can be a positive sum game. Stocks can increase in value without anyone losing anything; the entire point of capitalism is that new wealth is regularly created.

One can certainly engage in financial speculation with clear winners and losers (e.g. futures markets) but buying and selling stocks is not necessarily so.

Stephen