speculators
Market risk-takers
Speculators are people who buy assets hoping to profit from price changes rather than from the asset's use or income.
A speculator buys stock expecting it to rise, not for dividends; buys property to flip, not to occupy.
The term often carries negative connotations—speculators are blamed when prices spike: Speculators drove up oil prices.
In finance, speculation is distinguished from investment by shorter time horizons and higher risk tolerance.
Those gaining from hardship
- carpetbaggersOutsiders exploiting local turmoil
- vulturesLarge carrion-eating raptors
- sharksLarge predatory fish
- gamblersThose who bet
fortune-hunters · adventurers · flippers · scalpers · manipulators · cornering · insider · front-running
Professional buyers and sellers
- day-tradingTrading within one session
- arbitrageExploiting price discrepancies
- leverageBorrowed capital for amplified returns
- marginEdge of a page
futures · options · derivatives · short-selling · commodities · securities · stocks · equities
Intense, consuming obsession
- tulipomania1630s Dutch flower speculation
- overvaluationAppraising too highly
- frenzyViolent mental agitation
- euphoriaIntense emotional high
boom · exuberance · crash · collapse · herd · psychology · irrational · contagion
Stake on uncertain outcome
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- hazardSource of potential harm
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- high-stakesInvolving significant consequences
exposure · venture · betting · wagering · probability · upside · downside · appetite
Prediction of future conditions
- prognosticationForetelling future events
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
- anticipationState of awaiting something
expectation · estimation · foresight · trend · outlook · bet · wager · hunch
profiteers
Those gaining from hardship
- carpetbaggersOutsiders exploiting local turmoil
- vulturesLarge carrion-eating raptors
- sharksLarge predatory fish
gamblers · fortune-hunters · adventurers · flippers · scalpers · manipulators · cornering · insider · front-running · schemers
traders
Professional buyers and sellers
- day-tradingTrading within one session
- arbitrageExploiting price discrepancies
- leverageBorrowed capital for amplified returns
margin · futures · options · derivatives · short-selling · commodities · securities · stocks · equities · portfolio
mania
Intense, consuming obsession
- tulipomania1630s Dutch flower speculation
- overvaluationAppraising too highly
- frenzyViolent mental agitation
euphoria · boom · exuberance · crash · collapse · herd · psychology · irrational · contagion · panic
gamble
Stake on uncertain outcome
- uncertaintyState of being unsure
- hazardSource of potential harm
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
high-stakes · exposure · venture · betting · wagering · probability · upside · downside · appetite · tolerance
forecast
Prediction of future conditions
- prognosticationForetelling future events
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- conjectureGuess from limited facts
anticipation · expectation · estimation · foresight · trend · outlook · bet · wager · hunch · contrarian
- Wall Street historystock exchange, ticker tape, bull markets, bear markets, short selling
- Futures Tradingfutures, futures contract, futures contracts, futures trading, futures exchange
- commercetrade, banking, merchant, imports, sales
- backerssupporters, backers, sponsors, patrons, funders
- buyersbuyers, buyer, purchasers, purchaser, homebuyers
- eliteselites, plutocrats, oligarchs, aristocrats, blue bloods
speculatorsvalue investors
Buyers of underpriced securities
fundamentalists · Warren Buffett · pension funds · bond holders · savers
speculatorsproducers
Those who create goods
builders · creators · manufacturers · entrepreneurs · makers
- land speculatorOne betting on property appreciation