Gambling vs. the Stock Market
A very rich man seems to think we should empirically test the proposition that the stock market trading floor is just the world's biggest casino, reports the New York Post:
Mark Cuban, the outspoken billionaire owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, is planning to start a hedge fund that will gamble investors' cash.
Literally.
Cuban believes gambling—as in slot machines, blackjack, poker and sports betting—holds just as much promise for returns as stock-market or bond investing, which he claims is rife with misinformation.
……
Cuban, pointing to the wealth of information on professional sports teams, said the professional gamblers he would hire would know more about those games than brokers and investors knew about scandal-scarred companies like Tyco or Enron.
Cuban announced this plan on his blog; no sign yet whether it's just blowing controversial smoke, or something he really intends to do.