Share trading is definitely gambling for a variety of reasons. I will rebut some of your statements here :

1. You stated that "Share trading is not a game therefore it is not gambling." But there are professional horse bettors as well. They live of the money they win at the track. Horse racing is not a game but is classed as gambling so I don't think this argument holds up very strongly.

2. You stated "Share trading is not a gamble as you limit your risk". Once again I will use horse racing as an example. Horse racing professionals limit there risk to a maximum of 1% (which is less than the 2% you state for trading). Horse Racing professionals will only bet 1% of their bank on any selection and they minimise the risk by using form to determine the best horse at a good price.

You have to understand that I can actually limit my risk better in a horse race than I can on the market. Firstly I know my maximum loss. I can't lose more than I put in which might be $10 or $1000. This is similar with the share market except I might invest 10% of my total bank instead of 1% and have a tight stop loss of 2%. the problem is that if the market crashes (which it has done and will do again) I can no longer ensure I only lose 2%.

Hope this helps out. the only difference between the sharemarket and a horse race is that due to the TAB takeout of 15% the horse race is a negative game ( 85% returned to punters) whereas the sharemarket is a positive game ( should go up longer term ).

Don't fool yourself .. Share trading is gambling just with a lot more money. It is gambling whether you are invested for 2 mins or 20 years. Its just that a gamble on the share market has a greater chance of success than a gamble on a horse.

Good Luck investing.