Brendan - I have seen other posts you have made on spreadbetting and you clearly misunderstand the concept.
I think you should have a proper grasp of the topic first before making such sweeping incorrect statements.
Yes - you can call it gambling if you wish - but it is no more gambling than CFDs or buying shares without leverage.
You are NOT competing against the bookie like you do with say, backing a horse..
I think to move this topic from "savings and investmenst" due to it being,as you say, gambling and not moving discussions on,say, CFDs is not consistent and in fact - albeit unintentionally - misleading people as to the merits of using financial spreadbetting as an alternative way of playing the markets.
I would disagree, to use your example if he sells at five and buys at three, he wins either way.
Think of it like a broker buying shares on behalf of a customer, they are earning a spread and a commission. Price flucuations don't impact the broker P&L, the only impact is the ability of clients to do more trading.
You are quite right - he does make money either way - in that they charge a small fee for using their service - as does a broker !
The main point I was trying to illustrate though is that they are not like traditional bookies whereby the odds are set in such a way that over the long term you will lose. You CAN win over the long term with spreadbetting companies - and they are quite happy for you to do so !
As a financial trader you are not in direct competition with the bookmaker - you are competing against the market.You pay the bookmaker a small fee like you would pay a broker to enable youto play the market - however you have other advantages by going with a bookie that are not present with a broker.