As a growth stock, Microsoft is valued based on the perception that they will continue to grow revenue and earnings at the same fast rate as they grew in the past decade. The price of the stock has this speculative value built into it. If the CEO of a steel company said the same thing, hardly anything would happen to the stock price. It is already assumed that there is no huge growth potential. If that same CEO said the company would not be able to pay dividends for the foreseeable future, the price would collapse because the stock loses value to investors.
Speculation is riskier than investing, but has the potential for higher rewards.
Gambling should be strictly for entertainment, and should be thought of as a type of consumption. Don't plan on getting money back. In today's go-go market, many people are really speculating more than investing. This may or may not happen, but it has to happen for you to make money beyond what you could have earned investing, where nothing has to happen. Investor-speculators should have a mix of both in their portfolio, just be aware of the sharp losses that you may have to take as a speculator.