Are you in the spread betting business? I’m referring towhether you approach spread betting as you would approach a traditional business, rather than treating it as a mere hobby.

Having sat through chancellor George Osborne’s UK budget, I was pleased to see that there was no obvious specific targeting of spread betting clients. For example: he could have – but hasn’t, as far as I can tell – reclassified spread betting as ‘investment’ rather than ‘gambling’

When spread betting company WorldSpreads collapsed, it had a knock-on effect on some of its “white label” and partner spread betting brands, including potentially Ladbrokes. Indeed, if I view my overall Ladbrokes account now – which also encompases other forms of gaming – I see that the balance in my Financial Spread Betting wallet is… Unavailable.

It was a toss up between titling this article ‘Who wants to be average anyway?’ and titling it ‘Can you beat the market?’ Either way, it amounts to the same thing.

Most of the spread betting companies allow you to trade most of the big-name equities, but not all spread betting companies provide equal access to the lesser known stocks.