Contrary to what Peter Sidell says in his April 4 Letter, "Little sympathy for gamblers," buying stock in a company is an investment, as in most cases the value does increase over time. There are instances such as Livedoor, Enron, etc., where a large group of people have lost their life savings, but the reason that people are asking that their funds be returned is that these cases all involved fraud, lies and deceit. Hundreds of millions of people buy stocks or bonds in companies all over the world, and fortunately most of those companies use those funds honestly to help grow their businesses, which in turn increase their values, which in turn can bring profits for stockholders.
Buying stock is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but it can, in fact, take a decade or so before showing serious returns.
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