phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu wrote:
>
> What, day trading isn't enough on-line gambiling?
Oh, yes, and did I mention that letting people just bet, outright, on which way a stock will go, without actually having to buy anything and with no brokerage commission, would probably go a long way towards stabilizing the stock market? Which, if you ask me, has major volatility problems stemming from people out to make a fast buck. Remove the people who aren't actually investors, and the market will probably get a lot better.
Even major institutions sometimes buy futures or stocks as a hedge, instead of as an investment. In a horse-race-like scenario, you could probably get much better odds on hedges.
--
sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
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