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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;howboutatrade, post: 1128212, member: 10387&quot;]Okay...let&#039;s look at the difference between speculating, trading, and investing.&nbsp; These are different things.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Speculation is a bet with only assumed knowledge.&nbsp; (I think a hurricane will take out east coast power plant this summer, so I will buy energy futures)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Trading is executing transactions based on a specific event that the trader believes will have impact in the immediate / short term.&nbsp; (I think the quarterly announcement will be good enough to generate market upside)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Investing is executing transactions based on longer term metrics and foundations that indicate performance will be good in the medium / long term. (I think this company is doing all the right things and will succeed in the coming years)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So for the current situation....high end speculation had to be done before the earthquake, tsunamis, and nuclear disaster...we will skip this.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Investors will look at the nuclear disaster and believe there could be a longer term play in other energy fields.&nbsp; Or they will look at the earthquake and find companies that will help with early detection, better designs that withstand the shake, etc.&nbsp; Or they will look at companies that can help with Tsunami preparedness.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Looking at the &quot;what will perform in the immediate/short run based on the events in Japan&quot; is trading.&nbsp; Let&#039;s not confuse this with Investing.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Throughout the thread there are comments that explain the speculators already made the big money (correct)...but so did the person who walked into the casino and dropped a large sum of money on 17 black, it hit, they let it ride, it hit again....it does happen, but it is more luck than anything else...especially since this is an act of God.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>There are comments around companies that have better &quot;contingency&quot; based products like solar.&nbsp; This is an investors perspective.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The activities in Japan did not impact the gold or silver or other precious metals supply side.&nbsp; So the trading question is, will this event create more demand for precious metals or less...in the immediate / short term.&nbsp; In the medium / long term (investor perspective), the events in Japan do not have an impact on precious metals.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Market volatility in today&#039;s economic world is driven by speculators/traders believing they are investors.&nbsp; The large drop in the Japanese stock market...has some investor rationale, but it is greatly exagerated by the speculators and traders who run from the event before all the facts are known about the impact to companies.&nbsp; The U.S. stock market drop has less investor rationale, and it is even more exagerated by the speculators and traders.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Current changes in the stock market, since they appear to be driven by over reaction/speculation/trading....is creating a market dip, not sustained downside.&nbsp; Given the old saying about the key to investing &quot;buy low and sell high&quot;.....these temporary dips are the time to invest in solid investment plays....speculation and trading at this point where the markets are still &quot;guessing&quot; on the impacts of the events, well they are speculation and trading...not investing.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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