Announcing the bigger and better than ever, 2025 Pick of the Year (PotY) contest!

[jiesen]

well, technically, SPY is in the red as well, but hard to call it a true stock pick, since it's also the index...

[jiesen]

And they’re off! Welcome to week one of the 2025 Pick of the Year (PotY) contest, pickers. And boy what a week it was. Here I was cowering in the corner fearing a sharp drop due to the tariff wars, and instead the market was pretty stable. The big news, however, is that we had runner right out of the shoot. Jiesen’s BBAI took off like a rocket and doubled its value in one week. Nice pickin’, Jiesen! Our second place stock, Massimo’s XBOTF, didn’t fair too badly either, amassing a 17% gain. In third place was Antioch’s BJ with a not too shabby 5% gain in just week. There was a whole cluster of stocks behind the top three, with all but two of our picks in the green. Even the two stocks in the red were less than 1% down. Overall, this looks like a good crop of picks. Buckle in, and get ready for the ride. Yeehaw! Don’t you tie one on.

	2025 PotY Contest Standings As of Market Close, Feb 7
#	Contestant	Stock	L or S	Start	Open	Current	Penalty	Gain/Loss
💔 In Loving Memory of Riverbabe And Karel 💔
1	Jiesen	BBAI	Long	2/3/2025	$4.24	$ 8.59		102.59%
2	Massimo	XBOTF	Long	2/3/2025	$0.259	$ 0.303		17.16%
3	Antioch	BJ	Long	2/3/2025	$99.05	$ 104.43		5.43%
4	BillyJoe	BP	Long	2/3/2025	$31.06	$ 32.27		3.90%
5	Jimmy W	RXRX	Long	2/3/2025	$7.24	$ 7.49		3.45%
6	Peanuts	RUM	Long	2/3/2025	$12.38	$ 12.75		2.99%
7	Molly	ANET	Long	2/3/2025	$115.23	$ 118.47		2.81%
8	Louetta	ORCL	Long	2/3/2025	$170.06	$ 174.46		2.59%
9	Blue Wolf	PSTG	Long	2/3/2025	$67.79	$ 69.07		1.89%
10	Minni17	ATAT	Long	2/3/2025	$27.41	$ 27.47		0.22%
11	NASDAQ	QQQ	Long	2/3/2025	$522.29	$ 522.92		0.12%
12	S&P	SPY	Long	2/3/2025	$601.82	$ 600.77		-0.17%
13	Antioch’s Dad	SPY	Long	2/3/2025	$601.82	$ 600.77		-0.17%
14	Dow	DIA	Long	2/3/2025	$445.39	$ 443.12		-0.51%
15	Mr. Market	VST	Long	2/3/2025	$168.03	$ 166.90		-0.67%

Holy Molly! I'm in 1st with a double already, and $$MM has the only pick in the red? I feel like we're in Bizzaro world or something. What sorcery is this?

[BlueWolf]

2025 PotY Contest Standings As of Market Close, Feb 7

And they’re off! Welcome to week one of the 2025 Pick of the Year (PotY) contest, pickers. And boy what a week it was. Here I was cowering in the corner fearing a sharp drop due to the tariff wars, and instead the market was pretty stable. The big news, however, is that we had runner right out of the shoot. Jiesen’s BBAI took off like a rocket and doubled its value in one week. Nice pickin’, Jiesen! Our second place stock, Massimo’s XBOTF, didn’t fair too badly either, amassing a 17% gain. In third place was Antioch’s BJ with a not too shabby 5% gain in just week. There was a whole cluster of stocks behind the top three, with all but two of our picks in the green. Even the two stocks in the red were less than 1% down. Overall, this looks like a good crop of picks. Buckle in, and get ready for the ride. Yeehaw! Don’t you tie one on.

	2025 PotY Contest Standings As of Market Close, Feb 7
#	Contestant	Stock	L or S	Start	Open	Current	Penalty	Gain/Loss
💔 In Loving Memory of Riverbabe And Karel 💔
1	Jiesen	BBAI	Long	2/3/2025	$4.24	$ 8.59		102.59%
2	Massimo	XBOTF	Long	2/3/2025	$0.259	$ 0.303		17.16%
3	Antioch	BJ	Long	2/3/2025	$99.05	$ 104.43		5.43%
4	BillyJoe	BP	Long	2/3/2025	$31.06	$ 32.27		3.90%
5	Jimmy W	RXRX	Long	2/3/2025	$7.24	$ 7.49		3.45%
6	Peanuts	RUM	Long	2/3/2025	$12.38	$ 12.75		2.99%
7	Molly	ANET	Long	2/3/2025	$115.23	$ 118.47		2.81%
8	Louetta	ORCL	Long	2/3/2025	$170.06	$ 174.46		2.59%
9	Blue Wolf	PSTG	Long	2/3/2025	$67.79	$ 69.07		1.89%
10	Minni17	ATAT	Long	2/3/2025	$27.41	$ 27.47		0.22%
11	NASDAQ	QQQ	Long	2/3/2025	$522.29	$ 522.92		0.12%
12	S&P	SPY	Long	2/3/2025	$601.82	$ 600.77		-0.17%
13	Antioch’s Dad	SPY	Long	2/3/2025	$601.82	$ 600.77		-0.17%
14	Dow	DIA	Long	2/3/2025	$445.39	$ 443.12		-0.51%
15	Mr. Market	VST	Long	2/3/2025	$168.03	$ 166.90		-0.67%

[Louetta]

Last week I asked the smartest Millennial I know to tell me which AI stock is a good one to buy, and she told me "BBAI to the moon!" so I bought some shares, and wow, look at 'er run!

Cool!.....

[jiesen]

Good job, Jiesen, looks like a grand slam!

--------------billy

Last week I asked the smartest Millennial I know to tell me which AI stock is a good one to buy, and she told me "BBAI to the moon!" so I bought some shares, and wow, look at 'er run!

[billyjoe]

Good job, Jiesen, looks like a grand slam!

--------------billy

[BlueWolf]

We got a runner already! Jiesen’s BBAI.

[BlueWolf]

2025 PotY Contest opening positions

And we’re off! Here are the final picks and the starting values for each pick. If you see any errors please let me know ASAP.

	2025 PotY Contest Standings As of Market Close, Jan 31
#	Contestant	Stock	L or S	Start	Open	Current	Penalty	Gain/Loss
💔 In Loving Memory of Riverbabe And Karel 💔
1	NASDAQ	QQQ	Long	2/3/2025	$522.29	$ 522.29		0.00%
2	S&P	SPY	Long	2/3/2025	$601.82	$ 601.82		0.00%
3	Dow	DIA	Long	2/3/2025	$445.39	$ 445.39		0.00%
4	Molly	ANET	Long	2/3/2025	$115.23	$ 115.23		0.00%
5	Minni17	ATAT	Long	2/3/2025	$27.41	$ 27.41		0.00%
6	Jiesen	BBAI	Long	2/3/2025	$4.24	$ 4.24		0.00%
7	Antioch	BJ	Long	2/3/2025	$99.05	$ 99.05		0.00%
8	BillyJoe	BP	Long	2/3/2025	$31.06	$ 31.06		0.00%
9	Louetta	ORCL	Long	2/3/2025	$170.06	$ 170.06		0.00%
10	Blue Wolf	PSTG	Long	2/3/2025	$67.79	$ 67.79		0.00%
11	Peanuts	RUM	Long	2/3/2025	$12.38	$ 12.38		0.00%
12	Jimmy W	RXRX	Long	2/3/2025	$7.24	$ 7.24		0.00%
13	Antioch’s Dad	SPY	Long	2/3/2025	$601.82	$ 601.82		0.00%
14	Mr. Market	VST	Long	2/3/2025	$168.03	$ 168.03		0.00%
15	Massimo	XBOTF	Long	2/3/2025	$0.259	$ 0.259		0.00%
								0.00%

[BlueWolf]

You still have a couple of hours until the deadline, so get your pick in. We didn’t specify a timezone in the rules, but let’s just say the deadline is 12 midnight, Pacific Time. That gives you east coasters a few more hours. Don’t miss out! This could be the most exciting contest since the Black Stocks scandal-laced contest of 2019 (You see what I did there?)!

[BlueWolf]

XBOTF — please and thank you!

XBOTF it is.

[Massimo]

XBOTF — please and thank you!

[BlueWolf]

Just a friendly reminder. If you haven’t already, get your picks in soon. The deadline is midnight this coming Sunday.

[BlueWolf]

BP long for me. Thanks

---------------billy

BP. You got it.

[BlueWolf]

Yar me hearties! I be taken me $RUM ta bed all year long... be taken it long this contest, too, aye. T'anks t' the Wolfman fer hostin! May yer waters be always blue!

Avast ye landlubbers! Mr. Peanuts ‘il be taking all yer RUM. ’il soon be three sheets to the wind … har har har.

[billyjoe]

BP long for me. Thanks

---------------billy