PartyGaming shares began the year hovering around the 29p mark, having been well over the £1 mark just six moths before. The anti-gambling bill that passed through the US Congress in October 2006 forced PartyGaming to pull out of the US market, wiping billions off the company’s value as stock plummetted to just 20 percent of its former value.

But a series of aquisitions and steadily increasing player numbers on PartyGaming’s online gambling sites led to renewed confidence in the stock and by February share prices were beginnin to rise. Towards the end of February the share price had surged to an incredible 45p, but PartyGaming’s annual report released on the 1st of March seemed to scare the market, and shares fell back to around the 34p mark.

It was a reality check for PartyGaming, and looked as if the massive rise in share value had been a false dawn. Looks, it seems, can be deceiving, and before long the shares were on the move again.

By April PartyGaming shares had the strongest gains for 2007 of any stock in the FTSE 250. That was a week ago, with the shares selling for arounf 50p. By 12.20pm today the official price was 57.25p! PartyGaming looks a safe bet!