4 ms·

How is such bets any different than options trading? If one is reasonable I don't see why the other would be that much different.

• deleted 2mo ago
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• idiotsecant 2mo ago
  If we bet on where fires will occur and I have empty pockets and a book of matches that's a little different than options trading. As with most terrible behaviors when a few people do it the results to society aren't so bad. When it gains potential for mass application of the same behavior it becomes a crisis.
  • DANmode 2mo ago
    Unfortunately your example gets a little foggier once you consider options and futures during a period like the one the US is currently in with Iran.
    • glaslong 2mo ago
      Like when your buddies trade crude on weekdays but you get to flip the War switch on/off all weekend?
  • quickthrowman 2mo ago
    Biotech stocks for premarket drugs are functionally binary bets on the drug trial itself and have existed for a long time. Wildfire prediction markets would be incredibly reckless and dangerous. The two situations are not even close to being the same.
• watwut 2mo ago
  Options trading is particularly bad example, because the buyer can choose whether they exercise it or not. You can just let the option expire. But yes, there is portion of "investing" that is actually gambling. That is what Enron did and it threw down the economy. Those gamblers usually loose and we have quite a lot of regulations trying to restrict the impact of that gambling. And yes, the usual suspect hate those regulations.
• quickthrowman 2mo ago
  It’s not, anyone claiming otherwise is arguing from an emotional position, not a rational one.
• DonsDiscountGas 2mo ago
  From a moral perspective I don't think it is. From a more practical perspective... It's only tiny biotechs where the share price exactly tracks a single clinical trial. This opens up ways to make more specific bets