If you want to describe all activity undertaken without foreknowledge of the future as "betting" - then every job anyone has is "betting" and almost anything anyone every does is a "bet."
In other words, it is a meaningless descriptor when used that vaguely.
Describing financial transactions as "betting" gives the reader exactly zero insight into what is going on, while giving him the illusion that he is gaining insight.
It does no one any good to insist on not thinking clearly about the current financial crisis.
Actually, it gives plenty of insight because it tells the reader what is really going on.
The investment professionals wants to pretend that they have some in depth knowledge about where risks are located, and how much risk there is, that they have everything figured out in nice little formulas that can predict how much money you’re going to make.
They are lying, either to themselves or to the public, they don’t know, their knowledge is woefully inadequate.
Because if they did know, then communism would work. All we we do is just put these professionals in charge of the planned economy and they can allocated financial resources in the economy in the most efficient way possible.