Outlook Could seven years of darkness finally be lifting over European… well, primarily British, online gambling companies? Since George Bush in effect made their businesses illegal in 2006, banging up a fair few British businessmen on the way, the sector has been a shadow of its former frontiersman self.

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The company that operates Boris bikes, prisons and hospitals was a picture of health yesterday following news of a big contract win in the US.

London’s leading shares were today set for a fifth successive week of losses — their worst performance since the eurozone crisis triggered a summer of turmoil in markets in 2011.

Hopes that the Footsie could match the record 11 days of gains last set in July 2009 were lost when weak US jobs data and profit-taking sent the benchmark index into negative territory. The blue-chip index has been flirting with the 6,700 barrier during trading over the past three days, but the chance to push on through this was dashed during the afternoon session. It lost 5.75 points to 6,687.8 after US jobs, manufacturing and housing data disappointed. Despite the dip it is still at levels last seen in November 2007.

The British economy might still be slumbering, but despite what you might have read, parts of the City have woken up. That ought to make for good times on the London Stock Exchange, or at least the company headed by Xavier Rolet which runs the London Stock Exchange, whose markets have been soaring.

A bankrupt stockbroker who defrauded millions of pounds from some of Britain's shrewdest business people was today ordered to pay a nominal £1 fee.

The online gambling boom has sent sales and profits soaring at Perform, a provider of live and edited sports video for betting websites across Europe.

The City is betting that David Cameron has boosted his chances of being re-elected as prime minister in 2015 after his speech setting out plans for a referendum on the European Union.

The betting giant William Hill and its partner GVC holdings have unveiled a £485m takeover of the online gambling company Sportingbet.

Betfair's chief executive, Breon Corcoran, will outline a strategy of cost cutting on Thursday, following his recent decision to withdraw from Germany and not to enter Greece.

The Turf community does not have to seek far to place the anguish of its most famous name in due perspective. As Frankie Dettori writhes in embarrassment over his drugs ban, a far graver disaster still gnaws at the heart of the Scottish sport. The success at Cheltenham in March of Campbell Gillies and Brindisi Breeze had confirmed their mutual base, the Kinross yard of Lucinda Russell, as a welcome new force at the top level. By midsummer, in a ghastly coincidence, horse and rider had been killed in freak accidents.

Italian former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has given a strong hint that he would stand in next year's election, declaring he would not allow Italy to spiral into recession and saying he had been “besieged by requests” to run.

A lull in sporting events after the Olympic Games saw gamblers' wagers fall by nearly £100m in the three months to October at the takeover target Sportingbet, the online betting company which owns Paradise Poker.