The past few months have been something of a whirlwind for the spread betting industry. The intense volatility in the markets has brought record business. Rollercoaster market movements have created some enormous gains for betters, but at the same time some painful losses.

The main attraction of spread betting is that you can make money no matter which direction prices move in, unlike regular share trading, where you can only make gains if share prices rise. The sharp falls in markets last month, followed swiftly by strong rallies around the globe meant opportunities were there for the taking.