That's only speculation to the extent that any investment is speculative. I don't play the market ... I buy mutual funds for my Roth IRA, and I sit on them. An

That's only speculation to the extent that any investment is speculative. I don't play the market ... I buy mutual funds for my Roth IRA, and I sit on them. And sit on them. And sit on them. But if you were to reduce my actions down to the bare basics, it would sound just like the initial comment: "you buy some stock, believing it will go up, so you can sell it at a profit at a later date". Just because my window is 30 years, and not 30 days, it doesn't change the basic mechanics or principles.