This Week – Make Hay from Straw

No surprise that we’re leading off this week with man of the moment, Jack Straw. It seems to us he suddenly has everything going for him – campaign leader, the promise of High Office and the opportunity, as a former Foreign Secretary, to pronounce weightily on the Iran crisis. He looks a snip at 76.2. Buy two points.

Tony Blair’s rise in the popularity chart shows no sign of stopping. He led us to our second most successful performance ever last week – a plus of 9.9 points – and subject to anything Commander Yates might have to say, he looks good for further improvement. Go cautiously though, just in case an Inspector calls. We suggest a one point buy at 64.0.

William Hague is another who could benefit from Iran-related publicity. This consistently good performer looks a safe bet at 97.3. Buy one point.

Looks like another week in which Ming is likely to be crowded out of the spotlight. He’s due to drop back in the charts. Sell one point at 77.5.

Since we have plenty of cash in the bank (30.4 points in total), we thought we might also try a couple more speculative shots. After much deliberation, we decided that the Brown-bashing had perhaps been overdone and that his price had dropped to the point where it represents a bit of value. Buy him for half a point at 63.5. And just for fun, sell bonking Boris – half a point at 94.2. We hear he’s been on the brew and might just be suffering a hangover.

Take it steady and remember that spread betting is very volatile. We base the recommendations on a stake of £10 per point but don’t under any circumstances risk more than you can afford to lose. We’ve had a good run but there’s no magic formula and as we all should know by now ‘the value of your investments can go down as well as up’.

Have fun, but have care too.

Peter Smith (Peter the Punter)