speculation

Definition of speculation in English English dictionary: The process of thinking or meditating on a subject; An investment involving higher than normal risk in order to obtain a higher than normal return; A judgment or conclusion reached by speculating; {n} a mental view, examination, spy, the act or practice of buying things, and relying for profit on an increase of price, opposed to regular trade in which the profit is the difference between the wholesail and retail prices; An activity, quite contrary to its literal meaning (L Speculare, to watch and examine closely), in which a person assumes high risks, often without regard for the safety of his invested principal, to achieve large capital gains The time span in which the gain is sought to be made is usually very short The shorter the term, the more speculative the investment is; describes buying into an arrangement, whether personalised plates or art, for which there is little intrinsic value and the only way to make money is by selling at a higher price This differs from an investment, which earns income such as interest, rent and dividends; even if the value of the initial investment falls, the investor can still earn income; dealing in a commodity or financial asset in the hope of making a profit on changes in market values; {i} contemplation, deliberation; conjecture, hypothesis; act of engaging in risky business transactions; buying and selling of commodities in order to profit from market fluctuations; The act or practice of buying land, goods, shares, etc; a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence; individuals who engage in speculation deliberately invest in risky assets, hoping to obtain profits from future changes in the prices of these assets; continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature; "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge"; an investment that is very risky but could yield great profits; "he knew the stock was a speculation when he bought it"; engaging in a trade or other project which offers the chance of profit but at the cost of increased risk exposure, see "Hedging"; Act of investing in risky securities such as options, futures, penny stocks, etc , or a term referring to trades on short-term price swings in securities; Purchase of an asset with the expectation of selling it quickly for a large gain; An attempt to make a profit by trading on expectations about future prices; an investment that is very risky but could yield great profits; "he knew the stock was a speculation when he bought it; An attempt to profit from futures price changes through the purchase or sale of futures contracts In the process, the speculator assumes the risk that the hedger is transferring, and provides liquidity in the market; a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence); "speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he dismissed it as mere conjecture"; The act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed; Buying or selling currency in expectation of an exchange rate movement, so as to make a profit, either in the same market or between two different markets, e g forex cash markets and derivatives markets; Examination by the eye; view; Any business venture in involving unusual risks, with a chance for large profits; In insurance, the activity of purchasing insurance with the expectation of making a profit on the proceeds; Mental view of anything in its various aspects and relations; contemplation; intellectual examination; Assumption of above-average investment risk in exchange for the opportunity to secure an above-average return; The act of speculating; A game at cards in which the players buy from one another trumps or whole hands, upon a chance of getting the highest trump dealt, which entitles the holder to the pool of stakes; Trading for the explicit purpose of making profits; Purchasing high-risk investments which may provide above average gains, but also carry a higher than average possibility for loss of principal; Power of sight; in expectation of selling at a higher price, or of selling with the expectation of repurchasing at a lower price; a trading on anticipated fluctuations in price, as distinguished from trading in which the profit expected is the difference between the retail and wholesale prices, or the difference of price in different markets; Originally: to conduct risky transactions, to count on something; in other words, buying and selling on the basis of (anticipated) price variations, particularly on the securities, commodities and property markets, as in stock exchange dealings A speculator buys securities because he hopes that the market price will rise rapidly and that he will be able to resell them at a profit (bull market speculator), or he sells securities on the assumption that market prices will continue to fall, enabling him to buy them back cheaply (bear market speculator); The employment of funds by a speculator Safety of principal is a secondary factor; The practice of buying and selling land or other property in order to profit by the rise or fall in their market value; implies a riskier venture than investment; the act of betting on changes in exchange rates in hopes of profiting A speculative "attack" occurs when a large number of investors anticipate a reduction in currency values and sell off large quantities of their holdings (thereby often creating the price crash they predicted) Speculators often work for major banks and investment firms; The practice of taking excessive risk in attempt to achieve abnormal profits; Preparing or offering a manuscript or illustration for an editor without assurance that it will be purchased; The purchase of a risky investment in anticipation of greater returns than that on a risk-free asset; A conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere theory; view; notion; conjecture
idle speculation: Speculation that is unlikely to be true
speculations: plural of speculation