An investor is any person who devotes capital to an investment in the hope that they will see a return from it. However, in the investment community, investors tend to have a different attitude to investing than traders.
Generally, investors differ from traders in terms of the length of their investments and their day-to-day involvement in the markets. Investors usually tend to take a long-term view on their positions, whereas traders will try to take advantage of shorter-term volatility.
Being a successful investor means picking the investments that return the most profit. To do this, most investors will apply some form of analysis to various markets and choose an investment accordingly.
Investors can use many different markets to derive profit, and the profiles of different investors will vary hugely according to their expertise, style, risk tolerance and many other factors.