I read a book on the credit crunch. Of course it's not just some casino. You're missing the point though. It's still based on gambling. Taking a chance with money or risk or assets or whatever in the hope of increasing the value of whatever.
Here's a nice long article for you to read where someone tries to distinguish between the two. It might slow you all down before you try once more to change my point of view.
That article explains why it's not gambling though.