If I were deciding with whom to invest my money, would it be smarter to invest it with the gambler or with the casino?


People who buy stock options are gambling with their money. People who sell stock options, however, are investing intelligently by taking a set, predictable return on investment in exchange for their stock's short-term potential. When you sell someone a "call" option on stock that you own, you are selling that person a window of time in which he has the right to buy your stock at a set price. He is gambling that your stock is going to go up dramatically during the window of time that the option is active.