Speculation

Speculation is when you guess what might happen in the future, usually when something involves money. Speculating means to guess, or "bet" on what you think the future may look like. For example, if you thought stocks of a certain company might go up in the near future, you might buy stocks in that company because you speculate they will go up. If they do, you could make money, but if they don't go up, you could lose money.