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| A '''speculator''' is a person who attempts to buy high and sell low. In doing so, he helps smooth out extreme variations in prices. Praxeologically, all actors are speculators because the future is always uncertain.<ref>{{cite book|quote=The distinctive reasoning of the speculator is an understanding of the relevance of the various factors determining future events. And — let us emphasize it even at this early point of our investigations — action necessarily always aims at future and therefore uncertain conditions and thus is always speculation.|url=http://mises.org/humanaction/chap2sec8.asp|chapter=Conception and Understanding|author=Mises, Ludwig von|title=Human Action}}</ref> There is always the potential for a [[black swan]] event to cause even "safe" investments to go bad.<ref>{{cite book|quote=In a changing economy action always involves speculation. Investments may be good or bad, but they are always speculative. A radical change in conditions may render bad even investments commonly considered perfectly safe.|title=Human Action|author=Mises, Ludwig von|chapter=The Mobility of the Investor|url=http://mises.org/humanaction/chap18sec8.asp}}</ref> Among the factors that can change are future needs and valuations, the reaction of men to changes in conditions, future scientific and technological knowledge, and future ideologies and policies.<ref>{{cite book|title=Human Action|url=http://mises.org/humanaction/chap6sec1.asp|chapter=Uncertainty and Acting|author=Mises, Ludwig von}}</ref> [[Ludwig von Mises]] notes, "The great majority of people, not knowing how to speculate successfully, and socialist writers of all shades of opinion, speak very ill of speculation."<ref>{{cite book|title=Socialism|author=Mises, Ludwig von|chapter=Speculation|url=http://mises.org/books/socialism/part2_ch10.aspx#_sec6}}</ref>
| | #redirect [[Speculation]] |
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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Latest revision as of 16:26, 14 January 2013
