The spread-betting craze has streaked across the sports field into the besuited world of finance, with this week's announcement by the London firm, Financial Spreads, that it has begun taking bets on the profits announced by the top 100 UK companies.

In a press release it says: 'Stock markets fluctuate in reaction to a variety of factors and, therefore, spread betting on these indices is one of the most exciting forms of speculation today.'