i think trading in alts is closer to gambling then it is to investing. there are a lot of factors you have no influence in, and this market is still young and unproven. then people get emotional after losing some money and make decisions based on that are basically gambling.
Trading alt is just as much as trading any market and you are only going to be gambling when of course the only thing you know about trading is to buy low and sell high without knowing how to go about it. I am very sure this is the position a lot of people always end up finding themselves in the long run as they end up screwing everything up in a matter of time due to their lack of knowledge. Gambling is gambling and trading is trading, but once you are trading without knowledge, then you are gambling.