A question that I am still often asked by clients is "why are you recommending foreign shares for my portfolio?" Admittedly most of my clients are within the 65 to 75 year age range, and undoubtedly there is an element of cultural bias here, evidenced by the fact that my younger clients do not have a problem embracing international markets.

Nonetheless, the question is valid and I will try to address the main reasons here:

Spread betting is a financial product, unlike debt consolidation loans, that has opened up trading on a wide range of markets, and put this within easy reach of the public at large. Firstly though, to clear up a common misconception, this is NOT actually betting in the traditional sense. In a traditional betting scenario, you would say, back a horse to come first in the 2:30 at Cheltenham - you are looking for a specific result at a specific time ie: first at the finishing line on 29th of June at 2:42.

With spread betting, you are backing your considered judgement that a share price or market level will be either higher or lower than it is now, at a set time in the future. You can at any time, come out of a trade and take your profit - you do not have to wait until the expiry of the trade, which is often some months in the future.