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[QUOTE="OzExorcist, post: 1830754, member: 23910"]
If this is our definition of gambling (and I haven't seen anyone refute it yet)...

...then investing in stocks (with the possible exclusion of insider trading, which as you correctly note is illegal anyway) is 100% gambling as well - it's just more socially acceptable than playing poker or betting on horses.
 
In your first example, you're talking about buying a stock based on its [B]projected[/B] earnings. That's the key word - projected. At the point you buy the stock, there's absolutely no guarantees those earnings will be made and that the stock will rise in value, or that the stock will rise in value even if those earnings [I]are[/I] made. You're putting up money, on an event with an unknown outcome, with the primary intent of making more money. You're gambling. Maybe you're gambling with good odds, maybe it's +EV, but it's still gambling.
 
The exact same goes for day traders. And as for blackjack, it's not the fact that the house always wins in the end that makes it gambling - it's the fact that you're wagering money on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning more money. Whether you win or lose over the course of a session, a year or even your lifetime is immaterial.
 
What I don't understand is why everyone seems so scared to label the things they do as "gambling"? I guess it doesn't look good on a housing loan application. And there's that very specific legislative issue in the US too I suppose...
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