speculation
Theorizing without proof
Speculation is thinking or theorizing without firm evidence—forming ideas about what might be true or happen.
That's pure speculation at this point.
In finance, speculation means buying assets hoping their price will rise, accepting higher risk for potential reward: He lost everything in real estate speculation.
The speculative and the solid are often contrasted: We need facts, not speculation.
Guess from limited facts
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- theorizingForming unproven explanations
- postulationAssuming something as given
- suppositionBelief without proof
inference · deduction · abstraction · philosophizing · contemplation · cogitation · reasoning · proposition
Stake on uncertain outcome
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- volatilityRapid, unpredictable changeability
- ventureRisky new undertaking
wager · bet · hazard · exposure · precariousness · unpredictability · dicey · flyer
Exchanging for value
- stocksOwnership stakes or inventory
- commoditiesTradeable raw materials
- futuresContracts for future delivery
- optionsAvailable courses of action
derivatives · market · volatility · bubble · crash · boom · securities · equities
Informal talk spreading rumors
- hearsayUnverified secondhand information
- whisperSpeech without full voice
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
- grapevineInformal gossip network
scuttlebutt · innuendo · buzz · talk · chatter · word-of-mouth · unverified · unsubstantiated
Prediction of future conditions
- prognosisPredicted disease course
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- anticipationState of awaiting something
- outlookAttitude toward the future
foresight · prognostication · prophecy · divination · augury · soothsaying · presage · horoscope
conjecture
Guess from limited facts
- hypothesisTestable proposed explanation
- theorizingForming unproven explanations
- postulationAssuming something as given
supposition · inference · deduction · abstraction · philosophizing · contemplation · cogitation · reasoning · proposition · thesis
gamble
Stake on uncertain outcome
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- volatilityRapid, unpredictable changeability
venture · wager · bet · hazard · exposure · precariousness · unpredictability · dicey · flyer · punt
trading
Exchanging for value
- stocksOwnership stakes or inventory
- commoditiesTradeable raw materials
- futuresContracts for future delivery
options · derivatives · market · volatility · bubble · crash · boom · securities · equities · leverage
gossip
Informal talk spreading rumors
- hearsayUnverified secondhand information
- whisperSpeech without full voice
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
grapevine · scuttlebutt · innuendo · buzz · talk · chatter · word-of-mouth · unverified · unsubstantiated · alleged
forecast
Prediction of future conditions
- prognosisPredicted disease course
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- anticipationState of awaiting something
outlook · foresight · prognostication · prophecy · divination · augury · soothsaying · presage · horoscope · omen
- economic historystock market crash, Industrial Revolution, trade routes, Great Depression, gold standard
- investingstocks, stock, bonds, investing, investor
- Gilded AgeGilded Age, robber baron, robber barons, Carnegie, Rockefeller
- investment pitfallsovertrading, panic selling, overleveraging, overconfidence, poor timing
- Futures Tradingfutures, futures contract, futures contracts, futures trading, futures exchange
- curiosityinquisitiveness, wonder, questioning, inquiry, interest
speculationfact
Verifiable piece of information
certainty · proof · evidence · truth · verification
speculationinvestment
Deploying capital for returns
value investing · capital preservation · savings · hedging · diversification
speculationabstention
Formal refusal to vote
indifference · reserve · reticence · silence · disdain
- idle speculation
- market speculationRisky investment based on predictions
- speculative bubbleOvervalued assets awaiting collapse
- speculative fictionGenre of imagined realities
- land speculationBuying terrain for profit
- financial speculationRisky trading for profit