Spread betting offers investment opportunities

Fri, 15 Feb 2008

Despite the fact that many people are only familiar with spread betting in relation to sporting events, it can also offer an attractive investment opportunity, one expert says.

James Parker, head of spread betting at ODL Markets, explained that the system was very similar to making an ordinary investment in a financial market with the biggest difference with spread betting being that people were backing an outcome to occur or not to occur.

He gave the following example: "If we quoted a price in the FTSE of 5800 or 5801, you would be buying at 5801 or selling at 5800. If you bought at 5801 for £1 per point, and then we offered another price where you could sell at 5820, you would have made £19."

Mr Parker added that as UK laws classified this as betting, any gains a person made on their investment would be tax free.

Investments made through the system also allowed "the average man on the street" to benefit from falls in the stock market, he concluded.

Reports in the Daily Mirror said that, at the height of the Northern Rock crisis, some people were placing up to 2,000 spread bets per day on the share price of the bank .
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

 

 

UK Investments - Financial, Property & Other Investments - 1998-2008

Investments Newsletter

Investments Newsletter