Term

speculation

Buying and selling securities or goods to profit from price swings, rather than from a stake in the actual business.

The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie

Explained in

• The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie
• Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Edwin Lefèvre

  In the book, this is the name for calculated trading on price changes, based on studying the conditions, as opposed to gambling, which bets on random swings. This is the narrator's own distinction.

• The Art of Money Getting, P. T. Barnum

  Here: a risky deal from which the person expects a quick profit.

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