The only time you&#x27;re actually investing in the company is when they IPO.  That&#x27;s what the market is primarily for, getting capital to companies that need it; after that however, the market also has to allow people to trade those shares with speculators otherwise there&#x27;s no way to exit your investment.  This secondary market is the other function of the market (what you just called  investing in the flow of money in and out of a position).  Both are necessary.  Traders have always played the short term ups and downs, that&#x27;s what makes them traders rather than investors and without them, there wouldn&#x27;t be liquidity to exit your positions.