Sunday, March 25, 2007

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge

I am participating in a new stock investment contest.

For those that want to test their skills at short term stock investing (i.e. speculation), CNBC.com is holding the CNBC.com Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge. The contest lasts for 10 weeks and the top ten finishers and ten weekly winner (greatest percentage gain for the week) will compete in a two week investment challenge starting May 14. The highest portfolio at the end of two weeks will win $1,000,000 in real money.

General Rules
To play, register at CNBC.com Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge. One can register multiple accounts as the first weekly winner, Nancy Beaumont, who allegedly has 803 accounts registered. One starts with $1,000,000 in fictitious CNBC bucks and can make up to 50 trades per day. Trades are executed on the following business day at the close of the market. The portfolio results are tallied each day and provides one's ranking among the participants.

In addition, participants can earn up to $3,000 in bonus CNBC bucks each trading day by answering trivia question. Stock Market Beat and Word on the Street are two of the many blogs that post the trivia question answers every day.

Strategies
Since this is only a 10 week contest, contest winning strategies to win may differ from a long term investment strategy. I summarize some of the differences in the the table.

Strategy Comparison
Category

Contest Strategy

Long Term Strategy

Risk

Very High

Low to High

Diversification

Single Stock

Many Stocks

Stock Types

Small Cap, Low Price, High Volatility

Multi-Cap, Varying Price

Time Horizon

10 weeks

50+ years



My Wealth Builder Status
It's hard for me to vary too much from my long term strategy, even if I know it will reduce my chances to win:-) Therefore, I did use some diversification and I am still maintaining a cash position, although both are lower than I typically do in my actual portfolio.

I entered a portfolio based on the modified Unemotional Investor portfolio which I described in My Stock Picks for Q1 2007. Disclosure: I closed out this portfolio on March 2, 2007 as described in Q1 Stock Purchases Update - Closed All Positions. In addition, I purchased Google (GOOG) and Golden Star Resources (GSS) which are stocks I like but were not identified by the system. Here are the status details.

Status

Portfolio OpenedMarch 14, 2007
Stocks Purchased Avnet (AVT)
Coach (COH)
C. B. Richard Ellis (CBG)
Google (GOOG)
Golden Star Resources (GSS)
Cash Position

About 9%

Portfolio Value

$1,065,000 (top 19% in ranking)

Gain to Date

6.5% (2.1 % from bonus bucks)


Overall, I am enjoying this contest. The contest provides a "test" of the real world stock picks I have made. In addition, I have a chance, although very small, to win some money:-) Since I can enter multiple portfolios, I may enter one more time with a one or two stock portfolio that has very high volatility, low priced stocks.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

1 comment:

Jeff Johnson said...

CNBC is running another trading competition like this one in Australia between the 12th november 2007 and 15th february 2008.