Financial: Masterclass

Scott Longley takes another look at the London Stock Exchange and asks how you make money and avoid big losses when the market is sliding

Scott Longley looks into trading foreign markets, and finds our friends across the pond have a lot to offer

Going against the crowd can be a profitable, if dangerous, path to take when spread betting on shares. Scott Longley explains how to chart a safe course

Reckon you know much blockbuster King Kong will trouser at the box office and who'll clean up at the Oscars?

There's nothing surer in the world than the value of gold. But, as buying the stuff can prove a little tricky, you stand more chance of making money by betting on whether the price of an ounce - currently at a 16-year high - will go up or down.

With fast, low-cost, easy-access online trading and the lure of tidy profits, ever more private speculators are drawn to America's massive E-mini futures market - while UK day traders are stuck in the Stone Age.

The stock market, like horse racing, is driven by the law of averages, It seems the past does not predict the future. Rollercoaster ride, anyone?