Nasdaq just asked the SEC for permission to launch prediction markets on stock indices. And if you're wondering what that means, here's the translation: they want to let you bet on whether the S&P 500 will be up or down at the end of the day, just like you'd bet on a football game.

This is a terrible idea, and the SEC needs to shut it down.

According to Reuters, Nasdaq is pitching this as "innovation" and "increasing market access." That's Wall Street speak for "we saw how much money Robinhood made turning investing into a game, and we want in."

Here's how prediction markets differ from actual investing. When you buy a stock or even a traditional option, you're participating in price discovery. Your trade reflects information, analysis, or at minimum a view on the underlying company's value. Prediction markets cut out all of that and reduce everything to a binary bet.

Will the market be up or down in four hours? Place your bets. It's the financial equivalent of putting it all on red.

Nasdaq will tell you this already exists with options. That's not quite true. Traditional options have strike prices, expirations, Greeks, and risk management tools. They're complex, yes, but they're also tied to the actual mechanics of markets. Prediction markets strip away all that complexity and just give you a yes/no button.

That sounds convenient, right? That's exactly the problem. The easier you make it to gamble, the more people will lose money doing it. And make no mistake—this is gambling, not investing.

The timing is revealing. Nasdaq is pushing this while retail investors are already getting crushed trying to trade geopolitical volatility. Defense stocks, oil plays, gold miners—everyone's trying to time the Iran crisis, and most people are losing money.

Now Nasdaq wants to give them an even faster way to burn through their savings?