There is a difference between investing and gambling/speculating.

They've already been exposed for one fraudulent enterprise. 

Essentially gambling that the value of your leveraged assets is going to increase over time.  

Be careful of this fraudulent proof of fund letters you get from an HML or of the Internet because they have no money behind them; you can verify from an FDIC bank.Joe Gore

To me, that's gambling, and while I don't mind gambling on occasion, I don't do it with with my investment money

That roof job was not cheap.It's up to you if you want to gamble a low ball offer w/o knowing what kinds of sins are underneath that roof and tile.Can you get work done reasonably or will you get held up by high priced contractors?

I am not saying people do not make money in stocks I just see those more of a gamble.

Only hold onto it long enough to break even and then sell.Even holding onto a property until the market recovers is a gamble in profits vs. loss.

For now think of investing dollars instead of exchanging dollars as a gamble -- the first factor.The second factor is that when a nation's currency becomes worth less, the value of the goods and services of that nation start becoming a lot cheaper to a foreign buyer.

To bet on appreciation is more closely akin to gambling than investing in my mind.