Eight ideas from London's top tipster

All of these were prescient; if you listened, you did well. Sadly, this record is blotted by the claim that Portsmouth's season could only get better. It didn't. Sorry.

Here are a few of our guru's latest suggestions. Remember the golden rule: if you don't understand the bet you are making, don't make it.

Email pinstripedpunter@standard.co.uk with comments and best of luck.

Shares in oil and gas firm BG Group are more than 10% below highs of 1248p hit in January, after criticism over a £28 million pay packet for boss Frank Chapman.

Interim results this Thursday may help arrest the slide.

ShortsandLongs.com has a rolling spread of 1117.8p-1120.7p.

Shares in Royal Dutch Shell tipped 2000p for the first time since June 2008 last Tuesday. A positive trading update this week could help to push prices back towards their previous highs. Spreadex has a Junebased Shell spread of 1946.5p-1958.8p.

Other than being small and a bit tetchy about criticism, Tony Hayward, pictured, is no Lord Browne. With operational issues once again becoming a problem at BP — a company, lest we forget, which is still going through a major and difficult internal restructiring — it may be worth selling BP 622-627 with City Index on its September option settling September 14.

Of course as much as any major oil corporation, BP's stock performance relies on the price of oil. It may be worth taking out a hedge especially as some in the industry are claiming that $80 a barrel of oil to $100 barrel is the new $60-$80 trading range in terms of where it is thought the price of crude will move. Buy Nymex crude July contract settling June 18 with the same firm quoting $85.16-$85.26.

A hung parliament could have serious implications for sterling.

The pound is likely to tumble, at least in the short term, if no party wins an overall majority on May 6. The fear is that the tough measures needed to cut Britain's debts will be delayed.

For this reason, if you think there will be a hung parliament, a bet against sterling makes sense.

Any sell-off could be short lived, however, as there is cross-party support for cutting the deficit. Be prepared to take profits before a plan is agreed and sterling rises.

For those who think the Tories will win an overall majority, buying sterling makes sense.

A relief rally is likely to follow a decisive result, but once again this is likely to be short lived. Aggressive spending cuts by the Tories will encourage the Bank of England to leave interest rates at record lows for longer, putting pressure on the pound. Be ready to take profits.

IG Index is offering a spread for sterling against the US dollar of 1.5356-1.5358.

Royal Bank of Scotland's shares have outperformed of late, shrugging off uncertainty surrounding stricter regulation and taxing of bankers' bonuses to rally 84% since the start of the year. Goldman Sachs recently announced its belief that RBS shares could double over the next two years. Traders seem to agree. City Index are quoting a spread of 53.5p-53.55p.

Game Group shares plummeted more than 13% recently after the company posted a 27% fall in yearly profit and announced that both its CEO and COO were stepping down. This follows two profit warnings at the start of the year after a poor Christmas sales period.

The troubles mark a sharp fall from grace for the gaming company with shares down by more than 70% in a little under two years. The market has long speculated that it could become a bid target for US peer GameStop. These recent woes could trigger fresh bid speculation. City Index offer a spread of 88.1p-88.15p.

Imagination Technologies provide screens for the iPad, iPhone and iTouch. The iPad only went on sale this month so there is a lot more demand to come. ETX Capital are quoting a spread of 285.5p-286.4p.

Tesco, pictured, is expected to be one of the beneficiaries of the World Cup. It's the official supplier to the England team, will be selling World Cup-themed foods such as St George's flag's pizzas and will be embarking on a strong marketing campaign starring Frank Lampard and Peter Shilton. On top of this, the demand for TVs and beverages is all likely to have a positive impact on the shares.

ETX Capital has a spread of 450.25p-450.4p.