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My limited understanding of this topic suggests that earning a living from speculation is immoral.

I can't remember where I read it.

I've heard this, but I cannot believe it's immoral, first of all because it is no more speculation then it is to open a business hoping people will buy your product. In fact, a lot more day traders lose all their money compared to business owners who go under.
 
 Day traders are only in a trade for seconds, sometimes minutes, only on rare occasions are they in a position longer than minutes.

Even then, the trade is taken based on certain signals the traders sees. No different than a guy opening a new gas station on a certain busy corner because he sees there are no other gas stations around. They both see signals i.e. have reasons for their decisions, but neither knows for sure if they will be a success. A Day trader will find out almost immediately if he made, lost, or broke even, whereas it will take much longer for the other guy.

The day trader plays zero part in having a vested interest in the company, and if they are short, they hope the company goes bankrupt and the stock dives to zero while they are in the trade.

If the day traders benefit anything, they benefit the market or stock (not the company) they are trading because they can add liquidity, which means they add trading volume, which means they help make it easier for others to  buy and sell the stock - which has nothing whatsoever to do with being vested in the company.

 No, I do not trade for a living, I just have an IRA and like to watch the markets when I can.

The above post was mine.

Here's a video:

The above post was mine.

Here's a video:

Interesting.  I take back what I said about stocks being legit.  This explains how it was transformed early in the 20th century from being effectively an ownership stake into pretty much nothing (starting at about 3:55 in this great video).