The history of spread betting

It was a mathematics teacher from Connecticut, Charles K, McNeil who first invented spread betting during the times of the Great Depression in the USA during the 1940s. However it took until the 1970s to become popular in the UK. It is now a renowned way to gamble and is regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority. 

In the 1970s an unemployed stockbroker named Stuart Wheeler realised the potential of creating an index which tracked the price of gold and what it was being traded at. Spread betting became the most popular way to bet and gamble on the odds of sporting events, the price of shares and other commodities.

Nowadays it is so easy to spread bet because of the internet, you can place a bet at any time of the day or night because the spread betting markets never close unlike the normal stock markets. Spread betting is now a well established and recognised alternative to investment, because any profits that you do make are not eligible for taxation and you can make money relatively quickly because of the fast pace of the market.