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Comment This is not about semantics (Score 1) 182

That is, the previous post does not say that people putting money into the stock market are not investors but instead, speculators, because they are bad people or something.

The reason for the difference is that most of the shares traded are not issued as new stock by any company.

This means that when you buy the stock, you put money into the hands of another investor, not into the hands of the company.

Of course a company that is willing to issue new shares will profit from a good history, but since issuing new shares dilutes the share of the investors in the company, this is rarely done and usually only when the outlook for the company is bleak.

You can of course argue that the existence of the market helps the REAL investors who found new companies, but this does not invalidate the argument:

Next time you buy a share of a "old" company, don't think that you just helped that company.

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