the basis of stock market is simple-invest in a good company and wait for sometime-a few years. that is buy and sell. but most transactions in the market are not of this type. people trade on daily basis ,short or long ,derivatives etc etc. as things get complicated(unnecessarily) " experts" move in and common sense goes out of the window. that's what happened in america.stick to good old rule and everybody will benefit. the fact is that a little bit of speculation(or risk taking or whatever you call it) is a part of economic development.
