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A further increase in annual profit has been reported by Standard Life. This has been achieved by cutting costs, like most people and companies have had to, but it is also planning further savings of £75 million over the next two years.

Despite banks and other financial bodies being the worst hit during the recession, Standard Life is optimistic for the future. Furthermore, it is planning to reimburse 97,000 of its customers following a 5% loss in January regarding the Pension Sterling Fund which is a welcome and much overdue offer for those customers who felt they had been mislead about the underlying investments of the fund.

Everyone is aware of the ‘World’s Richest List’ and who is amongst the richest people in the world. Microsoft founder Bill Gates for instance, who has in recent years lost his top spot on the listing, is now featuring at Number 1 again following the recent stockmarket collapse.

However some 322 names have been obliterated from Forbes magazines ‘rich list’ leaving only 793 people remaining in the catalogue of billionaires who have so far lost 23% of their wealth.

Holding a position at Number 2 is investor Warren Buffet who has now suffered a $12bn loss; prior to this he had ended Bill Gates’ 13 year reign at Number 1. However, Buffet’s company Berkshire Hathaway has undergone some serious deterioration resulting in a 50% share loss over the last year.

If any of the economic predictions can be taken into consideration as far as a U-turn is concerned, when or if this potential reversal of fortune does occur, financial spread betters could stand to make an immense amount of money.

This of course all depends on picking the right time to bet and as with all investments and gambles there are risks. Some financial advisers envisage the turbulence to be over by 2010 and some project it to be much later, so when is a good time?

One of the main sports within the gambling industry is well documented to be horse racing. Amongst its participators are a motley crew of horse enthusiasts, local public figures, celebrities and suchlike who gather with the same goal in mind, which is to win some money.

A day at the races is an eventful and exciting day for any of you who not only like to soak up the atmosphere but also who like to have a good gamble. The amount of money floating around on a Cheltenham racecourse day is obscene and some of that could be yours without even having to step out of the house.

As Peter McNeil, director of sponsorship at the Cheltenham Racecourse recently stated, "There's an awful lot of people who make money from horseracing,"

So, why can you not be one of them? Well, you can as many of the leading bookmakers, William Hill, BetFair or Coral, to name a few, have an informative and easy to understand section on their websites for you to peruse at your leisure, this will enable you to become more familiar with the concept of spread betting around horseracing.

With such interest in financial markets and in particular spread betting with the lack of tax, commission fees or stamp duty attached to trading it is only understandable that you would start to see new online spread betting sites pop up. There has been a marked increase in the amount of people spread betting and certainly individuals who might have suffered redundancy, traders looking to boost their incomes or individuals looking for ways to protect their pension fund are just some of those that are currently opening accounts with the many online spread betting companies on the internet at the moment.

ShortsandLongs.com has already got itself into a little hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority. The company which launched in the autumn of 2008 and seemingly a new kid on the spread betting block is actually part of the well established sports and financial spread betting company Spreadex, founded in 1999. ShortsandLongs.com received one complaint in relation to a regional press advertisement which featured a rather ‘confident’ man sitting with two attractive women and copy which read "We believe all traders deserve privileges ... which is why we offer: Free guaranteed stops" as well as "And that's not the only privilege you'll find at ShortsandLongs.com ... They're just business as usual - just a small part of our commitment to make spread betting more rewarding".

Is someone you know expecting a baby? If so, now would be the perfect time to place a spread bet. Ordinarily, it is common to hear people betting on whether the child will be a boy or a girl, or whether it will be a certain weight but with spread betting you can further your odds of winning by extending the criteria of estimation.

Proving that not everything is doom and gloom at the moment and some good can come out of losing your job, former Woolworths worker, Claire Robertson, has shown her initiative, along with 20 of her former colleagues, in re-opening a Woolworths store in Dorchester.

She said: "It gives people a bit of inspiration to go out and do something new or change direction especially in these gloomy economic times when all the news is depressing."

It has now been re-opened under a new brand name, WellWorths (nicknamed Wellies) and despite having to close 815 branches and having debts of more than £385 million, Wellworths has been a joint ownership idea surrounding employees who were, in part, employed by Woolworths for over 20 years.

If you find yourself at a loss as to what to wager your money on at the moment why not take a quick look at the general bookmaker’s websites that are available online. You will notice that as football season is upon us and the ever present horse racing cups are all around us, you may pick up some helpful hints and opportunities with regards to spread betting.

The UK reality TV shows, i.e. Dancing on Ice and Shipwrecked are another couple of examples in which you could have yourself a little flutter. Shipwrecked is the more interesting of the two as in the final of the show there are a certain number of contestants present in the team who conquer the island.