Ha Ha Funny: Dumb Republican Blows $$$ To Pump McCain Intrade Shares
Allan Loudell reported on this yesterday. There is some rich Republican idiot out there.
Trader Drove Up Price of McCain ‘Stock’ in Online Market
By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff
An internal investigation by the popular online market Intrade has revealed that a single investor’s purchases prompted “unusual” price swings that significantly boosted the prediction that Sen. John McCain will become president.
Over the past several weeks, the investor has pushed hundreds of thousands of dollars into one of Intrade’s predictive markets for the presidential election, the company said, resulting in repeated monetary losses through a strategy that belies any financial motive.
One quibble with Loudell’s reporting. He repeatedly said that Intrade was like a “Casino.” But it is like a “futures trading market” which it is. In a casino one bets on games each of which have certian set odds of paying off. In a futures market, traders use their insight to buy shares in an event’s outcome.
So, if some dumb Republican wants to blow his money on McCain futures, who am I to argue? I wish he or she had used the money on something more important, but I know the old saying about a fool and his money.
Futures Trading / Casino. What’s the difference? 🙂
Agree, nemski. Stock market and futures – it’s all gambling.
Then neither of you know much about casinos or futures markets. In futures markets, you use your knowledge to gauge whether something will cost more or less at some point in the future.
In a casino, the house always wins — it’s a bel0w-zero-sum game. If you gain too much knowledge — for instance, you count the cards at blackjack so you know the real odds instead of the general odds — you’re barred from playing.