[quote=peterb]Speculation and investing are the same thing. Man, some people just dont get it. No one can predict the future. [/quote]
peterb, I think sdr was drawing a distinction between people who buy assets for the future income they can produce (for them) without selling the assets, versus people who buy assets for the purpose of selling them to someone else for more than they paid.
I know that assets bought for one reason can end up being sold or kept for the other reason, and some assets may end up producing some income and a nice gain on sale, but I think sdr describes a valid difference. Anyone who buys gold (other than jewelers or others who process it) is a speculator by this definition. It’s harder to find an asset that can only be used for investment by this definition, since virtually any asset that produces income can be sold, and so could be used by speculators.
In any case, I buy stocks almost always for the dividends they produce, and would only buy real property for the net income it produces. Those assets form what I think of as my ‘real’ permanent investment account that I rely on. I have a separate account, about 10% of my net worth, that I use to buy and sell assets based on what I think prices will do in the next few days or few years. I think of that as as my ‘hedge fund’, and I don’t rely on it, and I do consider it purely speculative.
