Since last Friday i'm up by 43%

However, i've reinvested my assets so i could be down 95% by tomorrow

i took up some small positions on a couple of friendlies being played today and tomorrow. Out of 5 bets i only need to win 2 to break even.

the matches are:

Ivory Coast U20s v USA U20s
Hungary v Greece
Ireland v Serbia
Croatia v Moldova
Ivory Coast v Japan

I looked at the play-off between Bristol City and Hull, but although i think Hull will win the match i think it will be in extra time or penalties so there's little point in backing Hull for the match (i.e. within the 90 minutes) win IMO.

I do believe there's money to be made on the upcoming international competition.

Germany are favourites for the cup (4/1) but the outsider (20/1) to look out for, for me, is the Czech Republic. Greece, who won the competition last time round are at 29/1.

Germany are reliable tournament performers. I wouldn't back them to lift the cup but backing them to the final returns 3.15 and last four 1.7.

Spain, Italy and Portugal follow up with reasonable odds for tournamet progression but a partisan home crowd should not be overlooked. Keep an eye out on Austria and Switzerland - the hosts:

Switzerland are 2.3 to qualify from Group A (a tough group featuring Portugal and the Czechs). Austria are 5.9 to qualify from group B.

Group D is the most interesting for the investor. Greece, Spain, Sweden and Russia is a close group. Sweden are a bloody difficult team to play against, ever the bogey side for England they're 2.26 to qualify for the knock-out stage. Greece fair even better at 2.5, despite winning the tournament previously with a steadfast defence and 5.9 to win the group.

My gut goes with Man U winning (2.64), but my wallet is going to lay Chelsea at 3.3

A £25 free bet for signing up to betfair would pay back in the event of success £82.50.

Nadal won me around £13 by winning the Hamburg masters and I fancied a repeat of this with the French Open, but the odds seem to only be 1.73 - it's almost worth taking the field (i.e. backing Nadal to lose) at 1.75 - in any case, I can't make my mind up and will stay out of that one.

Took a look at the Crewe by-election. CON are now 1.13 - again, not really generous enough odds to come in.

Terrorism Bill is at 1.16 to go through. This is the 28 into 42 days Bill. I'm not really sure how fair a reflection of the real world those odds are. 5.2 for it not to go through.

England are now 11 to win the 1st Test. That's probably worth a tiny £2 position. The draw is at 1.1 which is again, too low to be worthwhile.

My advice is therefore a minimum £2 bet on England to win the First Test. It's not that likely to happen, but you'll be able to dine out on the winnings.

Inflation is officially 3% but it feels to me like 25%.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7400074.stm

Everyone is after your money all of the time!

I think I've just found a half-decent value bet on the cricket. England best bowler, I'd take Broad here at 7 (= 6 to 1) we are only talking about a minimum Betfair proposition here which is £2 (I get £14 back including my stake if I win).

I was just about to back CON to win this By-Election with my Man U winnings when I noticed that the odds are a mere 1.2

Sure, they are going to win, but 1.3 would have made it more worth my while!

Betfair usually seems to know what's going on i.e. Obama is now at 1.1 to win the nomination, so I've missed the boat there.

CON to have the most seats at the next election is at 1.52 - this looks like a solid bet to me, but there is a possible 18+ month wait involved!

Man U look a good bet at 2.66 on Betfair for the Champions League final, or seeing as both Chelski and the Reds are finishing the season well 3.15 is very attractive for the draw.

Personally, Man U seem the team to win the Premiership this season (and i'm an Arsenal fan!) but Chelsea at 4.8 raises an eyebrow. The last games of the season are Chelsea at home to Bolton and Man U away at Wigan. Bare in mind that Man U have a goal difference 17 better than Chelsea at the moment with the last game left. How likely does a 9-0 drubbing sound in either of those games really?

The Dow is 12816 to buy right this second - looks good value to me.

I've just taken out a tiny position for NZ to get 275 or more in the first innings of the First Test at 1.42 with Betfair. It seemed the best value sports bet around today.

I dipped into Betfair to get a price for Barack Obama - he's moved back from 1.17 to 1.15 this evening to win the Democratic nomination.

Obama is 1.88 to win the Presidential election and the Democrats are 1.58 to win it. The 1.88 looks good if you are patient enough to wait until November for a potential payout.

Today's price smashed through the $123 barrier so the message must be to try to cut down Oil usage as much as possible. This is easier said than done! Read the full BBC Business News article below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7387203.stm

The Dow Jones plunged 206 today to 12814. the FTSE had risen nicely to 6261 a level it had not seen for several months. However, analysts are already predicting a U.S.-led 'correction' tomorrow morning.

Futurologists reckon it will open at 6221. There could be some bargains around at this level, it all depends on which stocks get hit the hardest.

I feel the Dow will soon recover these 206 points rather than see a further downward slide.

M&S have traded between £3.50 and £7.06 in the last twelve months. They closed yesterday at £3.85 and I'd offer a similar BUY policy as I've mentioned with British Land (below).

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MKS.L

http://www.marksandspencer.com/

British Land, a company that owns and develops Property has dropped from £14 per share to £8.29 yesterday (it was at a snick under £8 recently) and looks like a good BUY prospect with the intention of holding two to three years (unless you can get in and out quickly with a double-figure percentage profit).

http://www.britishland.com/

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BLND.L

ICICI offer the best rate today [6.16 AER], with ING not far behind [5.7 AER]. You can manage the accounts online.

However, you might be able to research a deal that suits you better at Money Supermarket and other Price Comparison sites.

Barclays are offering the best deal for people new to mini cash ISAs which is 6.5% for the first year, 5.5% thereafter. However, you can't transfer funds from an already existing ISA.

To transfer funds, try Abbey who are offering 6.25% for the first 13 months and 5.25% thereafter.

I will be looking to transfer again next year if I can find a deal better than Abbey's.

I would have sold my HSBC shares yesterday had it not been for the fact that I am waiting for a scrip issue to come through the post.

I've made 10% in two months, but would be left with a trivial holding that I couldn't sell if I took action yesterday.

When dividends are made, you can take cash or shares. Shares were set at £8.12 but they are about £8.90 in the market, so it made sense to take the dividend in shares.

If they still haven't come on Monday, I may be forced to get the pocket calculator out and sell them without actually having them in front of my nose as the Stockbroker usually likes to confirm at the point of sale.

The intention is to 'buy back' at around £8.50 - this only fails if prices continue to rise to (say) £9.50 in which case it would have proven to be a better idea to hold on to them and go for a 15 to 20% profit!

I had £10 on Boris yesterday over @ Betfair, so the drinks are on me!