By converting pounds to other currencies investors are gambling that the pound will fall.

Mr. Gattuso, however, said that these investors had gambled on the absence of new Center City development so they could raise rents when their leases expired.

The investor who gets paid to "buy" the shares is gambling that ultimately, the assessed liability will be less than what was paid for them.

But there were also a few rational investors - gamblers, but gambling the odds correctly.

Among the companies on which investors have been gambling are Gillette, Teledyne, Litton and Lockheed.

Shares of Crédit Lyonnais soared today as investors gambled that a bidding war over the bank was in the offing.

Hynix shares rose 3.2 percent on the Korea Stock Exchange as investors gambled that Micron would come to the rescue.

But the biggest price increase was in a security issued by Cal Fed to allow investors to gamble on the outcome of the litigation.

With Investec this week repeating its sell recommendations, investors are not gambling on a recovery in Betfair's shares, which are down another 30.5p to 751p.

Sometimes investors won't gamble on the skills of one manager.