All exchange stimulates productive activity, whether exchange by gift, gambling, barter, or money transaction. - Aaron C. Brown

Most people wander through life, carelessly taking whatever risk crosses their paths without compensation, but never consciously accepting extra risk to pick up the money and other good things lying all around them.

If you want to understand financial markets, and their effects on the economy, you have to understand the trading game. Many short-term price movements are neither random nor caused by economic fundamentals. They're caused by investors buying and selling.

If no one gambled against the grain in good times, there would be no winners to inspire people in the bad times.