Modern usage has made the term "speculator" a synonym for gambler and plunger. Actually, the word comes from the Latin speculari, which means to spy out and observe.
I have defined a speculator as a man who observers the future and acts before it occurs. To be able to do this successfully–and it is an ability of priceless value in all human affairs, including the making of peace and war–three things are necessary:
First, one must get the facts of a situation or problem. Second, one must form a judgment as to what those facts portend. Third, one must act in time–before it is too late.
— Bernard Baruch from his 1957 autobiography, "Baruch: My Own Story."
