Trading in the stock market nowadays — ruled by exchange-traded funds, index funds, computer trading and information overload — is like gambling, billionaire businessman and philanthropist Ken Langone told CNBC on Wednesday.

"There's a disconnect between what used to be the yardstick by which you measure stocks: earnings, dividends and so forth. It's a casino out there. The only hope you have is to own great companies, put them away and don't look at the market," the 83-year-old Langone said in a "Squawk Box" interview.

The recent volatility in the market has certainly not been for the faint of heart. On Tuesday, the closed just above its 2018 low as stocks struggled to keep a rebound alive throughout the session. The index remained firmly in a correction, defined as a decline of 10 percent or more from the most recent high, even as it moved higher in early Wednesday trading.