By David Field

Trading shares is widely viewed to be a confusing business for the novice. This belief that it is a difficult business to get started in, never mind do well in, has probably saved thousands of people from bankruptcy. For, in fact, getting started on stocks and shares is a remarkably easy business thanks to the internet. The days of lengthy phone conversations or receiving your share dividend through the post, while not gone, are now often seen as the slower, less exciting brother of the online shares game. All you need to do is set up an account with a share dealership for a very modest fee and then buy and sell your shares to your heart's content. And that is what I do.

After a few years dabbling with gambling, mostly in the form of placing fairly meagre amounts of money on a succession of reluctant animals, I thought I would use my love of studying the form and predicting what would happen next to reap dividends in the supposedly more reliable shares market. After reading up on the subject, it became clear that building up a wide portfolio was a good option. Not putting all my money in to one sector, let alone one business, was considered a wise move. If the supermarkets sector was hit with an unexpected desire on behalf of the consumer to buy local goods, at least my shares in an up and coming electronics manufacturer would not go the same way as plummeting Tesco shares.

It was also important to consider whether I was in for long term games or was looking to adopt a risky, short-term strategy. Quick gains can be terrific. If you spot a firm that looks set to secure a number of lucrative deals over the next couple of years, when news of those contracts breaks, the share price shoots up and you can make a sizeable profit. But this takes considerable good luck or good judgement. Far safer, if far less exciting, to look to the future and put your money in to some big firms that have shown growth and profit year on year since time began. Tesco and GlaxoSmithKline have done me no wrong so far.

I have contented myself with getting in with the successful big firms for a small profit each year, coupled with a couple of quick exciting ventures just to fuel my need for an adrenalin rush. On reflection, opting for shares in Bernard Matthews' was a risk, but selling them two weeks before the bird flu outbreak was the best decision of my life, and evidence of the luck that you need to be a success in the game, at least if you are reasonably ignorant, and are lacking in inside information, like myself.