An investor will choose an asset to buy low to sell high, and sell high to buy back lower usually once, for a few years. The profit they make is the percentage difference between when they bought and when they sold. This is the long-term outlook for an investor.

A trader will take advantage of the percentage differences of an asset that happen on a daily basis. A five year chart for AAPL will show a strong and steady growth curve. However, if you zoom in on this chart and look at it from a daily point of view, you can see that AAPL has price increases and decreases every day. A trader will buy and sell those 5% differences every day to compound and make a profit. This is how traders make money for a living.