Portfolio of the Week

[mimo_100]

Since the aim of this thread is to reflect reality as much as possible,
I think we should consider paying a money market rate to anyone who stays in CA$H all week. Why should a person be penalized for making
the investment decision to be in CA$H?

[skiracer]

Since the aim of this thread is to reflect reality as much as possible,
I think we sould consider paying a money market rate to anyone who stays in CA$H all week. Why should a person be penalized for making
the investment decision to be in CA$H?

I think your missing my point which is the risk factor everyone faces who makes a pick. Staying in CA$H all week poses no risk and is thus a safe haven. The logic and concept behind the contest is to see who can make the best selections during the week and over the course of the year. Staying in CA$H all week doesn't prove anything about anyone's stock picking prowness. I don't think it is the same as making a selection during the week. Originally it was meant to provide a little more time for someone, for whatever reasons, not to make their pick by the open on Monday, and not for staying in all week unless like Billyjoe there were extenuating circumstances. Which in a case like his they should be granted a leave of absence and not held subject to any rules regarding making a weekly selection. I think the CA$H has evolved into something more than what it was meant to be. I feel the game was meant to be played and not to sit in a safe haven all week. I also feel that taking a gain on Monday and Tuesday on one or two positions and then sitting all week in CA$H only proves that you were lucky on Monday and Tuesday and didn't prove anything as to the strength of your picks over the course of the week. Staying in CA$H all week doesn't prove a thing and in no way can be considered actively participating in the contest as was originally intended.

[Karel]

PCCC long

Stenzrob, congratulations! Great pick!

I'll take PCCC long again; it is still heading my screen.

Regards,

Karel

[peanuts]

just some thoughts...

I think that we can all agree that the best way to improve your performance at anything is to practice, and practice, and practice some more until you get it right.

That being said, I view the POTW as a perfect place to practice your stock-picking skills. It is also a perfect place to practice your money management skills.

The yearly contest is the big picture... it answers the question, "what is the best manner to grow your money in one year by trading in the stock market?"

The weekly contest is the small picture. It is a contest within the larger yearly contest... it answers the question, "what is the hottest thing in the stock market, right now?"

It is up to the player to decide whether they want to risk their balance on a trade each week. The risk and return ratios should be considered, and the detriment of not cutting losses short is evident, as in the example I have stated earlier. If a player cannot determine what the best place for their money will be right now, then he or she should enter a CA$H position, as it is the only way to be certain that their capital is preserved.

This is only a contest, but it can be applied to real life investing. In reality, there are added benefits to this method, as a cash balance can be placed into a money market account and earn interest on a daily basis. But for the sake of this contest, a CA$H position which neither appreciates or depreciates serves the purpose of a real-life cash position. There is no harm in saying, "I don't know what is hot right now, but I do know that I want to have lots of money in the end, so it is safer to stay neutral, now"

I think it is safe to say that each and every one of us wants to make money in the long run. Under normal circumstances, we do not want to take losses, ever. We all have our own purposes for choosing the stock market to accumulate wealth, and we all have to implement our plans to the best of our ability. I think that these statements are indisputable.

edit: I would also like to dispute that it is luck to obtain a nice return in the first day, and poor sportsmanship to ride out the rest of the week in CA$H... it's like vacation time... well EARNED

[Lyehopper]

I'll start off in Ca$h.......again.

Hey Peanuts.... stick me in ca$h again please sir....

btw.... The POTW is looking great under your watch Peanuts .... I'm sure you'll continue to find ways to improve it as time goes on.... Keep up the fine work!

Congrats to all the top players this week.

[skiracer]

I think that we can all agree that the best way to improve your performance at anything is to practice, and practice, and practice some more until you get it right.

That being said, I view the POTW as a perfect place to practice your stock-picking skills. It is also a perfect place to practice your money management skills.

The yearly contest is the big picture... it answers the question, "what is the best manner to grow your money in one year by trading in the stock market?"

The weekly contest is the small picture. It is a contest within the larger yearly contest... it answers the question, "what is the hottest thing in the stock market, right now?"

It is up to the player to decide whether they want to risk their balance on a trade each week. The risk and return ratios should be considered, and the detriment of not cutting losses short is evident, as in the example I have stated earlier. If a player cannot determine what the best place for their money will be right now, then he or she should enter a CA$H position, as it is the only way to be certain that their capital is preserved.

This is only a contest, but it can be applied to real life investing. In reality, there are added benefits to this method, as a cash balance can be placed into a money market account and earn interest on a daily basis. But for the sake of this contest, a CA$H position which neither appreciates or depreciates serves the purpose of a real-life cash position. There is no harm is saying, "I don't know what is hot right now, but I do know that I want to have lots of money in the end, so it is safer to stay neutral, now"

I think it is safe to say that each and every one of us wants to make money in the long run. Under normal circumstances, we do not want to take losses, ever. We all have our own purposes for choosing the stock market to accumulate wealth, and we all have to implement our plans to the best of our ability. I think that these statements are indisputable.

I would have to agree with the way you stated it Peanuts and I think that CA$H is a useful tool to stay in a safe haven. But it has nothing to do with stockpicking abilities and I thought this contest was about that but I see that we have transcended that and gone into a combination of other factors. Staying in cash and using that as a ploy for money management doesn't interest me as far as stockpicking abilities is concerned. Of course the orginal POTW contest has evolved over the course of the last couple of years into what it is today just as we have so this is what we have now. Money preservation and capital management instead of one good old stock picking contest. I think we will see more and more in CA$H positions over the course of the year and less and less stock picking because that is the guaranteed way of preserving your capital with alot less risk than actually picking stocks.

[sirtuck]

potw

Is still to late to enter? I know I will lose 3% each week, I missed..My pick is bbi long sirtuck

[peanuts]

Is still to late to enter? I know I will lose 3% each week, I missed..My pick is bbi long sirtuck

Welcome aboard, Sire! Yes, it is true that your initial $1000 will be reduced by 3% the first week, and that balance reduced again by 3% last week, but not to worry, you still have 50 weeks of profitability to make up for those minor losses. Good luck.

I have your first position as BBI long, opening price on Tuesday.

Would anyone else like to join the fray? All are welcome!

[Lyehopper]

Staying in CA$H all week doesn't prove anything about anyone's stock picking prowness. .

Sure it does Ski!.... It says that you stayed in ca$h that week to avoid a loss in an undecided market.... It also shows that a player ACTUALLY took the time and showed enough interest in the POTW to post his (deliberate) ca$h pick. It also shows the personality of various players and their investment styles.

Peanuts' contest is not just a weekly deal. He has assigned a ca$h value in our imaginary "account" thus making the contest more realistic. With this in mind I'm (personally) striving for the most ca$h in my POTW account by year end 2007..... and I don't care about placing in the weekly standings.... Look, If my account is larger than yours by December 31, 2007?.... That'll sure say something about my freakin' "prowNess" now won't it?.... LOL!!!!

[skiracer]

Sure it does Ski!.... It says that you stayed in ca$h that week to avoid a loss in an undecided market.... It also shows that a player ACTUALLY took the time and showed enough interest in the POTW to post his (deliberate) ca$h pick. It also shows the personality of various players and their investment styles.

Peanuts' contest is not just a weekly deal. He has assigned a ca$h value in our imaginary "account" thus making the contest more realistic. With this in mind I'm (personally) striving for the most ca$h in my POTW account by year end 2007..... and I don't care about placing in the weekly standings.... Look, If my account is larger than yours by December 31, 2007?.... That'll sure say something about my freakin' "prowNess" now won't it?.... LOL!!!!

No, not in my opinion it won't. In my opinion it is taking away from the stock picking aspects of the contest. It will show that you or anyone else that decides to stay in CA$H for as long a period of time as they wish in good or bad markets, up or down trends, rangebound markets, will be in a safe haven and not have to do any serious stock picking to stay above the +- line while others that make the choice to try to make the best pick they can in any type of markets are either foolish or disillusioned about the game.
In my opinion it is going to end up diluting the concept of the game, which was to make the best stock picks you could under whatever circumstances presented themselves that week, and as the weeks go by more players will ask themselves why not stay in cash for as long as they can before making a pick because a larger number of others are doing that. Staying in cash doesn't prove anything to me as far as stock picking abilities are concerned. But it's no big deal and the choice is up to the individual as to what and how they want to play it. It would certainly be true that someone's account might have a larger balance at the end of the year than anothers if they stayed safely in CA$H for a good deal of the time but to me the truer evaluation of one's stock picking abilities is picking winners in good, bad, or indifferent markets. What appears to be happening is a changing in the concept of the contest and that the safest and easiest way to come out on top is to stay out of picking stocks.
Not to single out Peanuts but his is a good example. Last week he made two daytrades which encompassed a few hours of holding time. Then stayed in CA$H for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If he had won the contest would he have truly been the best stockpicker that week while everyone else stayed in stocks all week except for those that stayed in CA$H all week.I guess the concept of the game has subtly changed to something other than picking winning stocks under any circumstances.

[peanuts]

No, not in my opinion it won't. In my opinion it is taking away from the stock picking aspects of the contest...

Please ski, add to the 'aspects' of this contest by consistently picking winning stocks week after week. Show us how you beat the tar out of Lyehopper's score at the end of the year.

Try it before you knock it. You're acting like you know everything

[skiracer]

Please ski, add to the 'aspects' of this contest by consistently picking winning stocks week after week. Show us how you beat the tar out of Lyehopper's score at the end of the year.

Try it before you knock it. You're acting like you know everything

Spare me the patronizing Peanuts. I just explained my feelings on it and can see where it is headed.

[peanuts]

uh-oh

Spare me the patronizing Peanuts. I just explained my feelings on it and can see where it is headed.

gosh, ski, the last thing that I wanted to do was to be condescending towards you. The quotation above seems to paint me in a bad light.

I was merely stating that if you think that you can do better than Lyehopper (which your comments towards him suggested that his manner of investing was not the same as yours), then prove it at the end of the year.

I still believe that all of our intentions in the stock market are to make money. Each and every one of us go about it differently. The winner of the yearly contest can teach us alot about a great way to grow our own portfolios. I hope that it is you, skiracer, so you may teach us all how you did it.

The conversation, on my part, was heading nowhere but enlightenment. I have, within the last few years, realized the failures of communication on my part. I now try to avoid being a jerk to people at all costs (unless they are deserving). But I guess it is more in the delivery of the message, not the content, which makes one perceive a message offered to them as nice or not nice. I am assuming that I failed to deliver my message to you, as you have decided that I am trying to patronize you. I am not!

[Peter Hansen]

Stp Long

STP LONG For Me!

[skiracer]

[quote=peanuts;76509]gosh, ski, the last thing that I wanted to do was to be condescending towards you. The quotation above seems to paint me in a bad light.

I was merely stating that if you think that you can do better than Lyehopper (which your comments towards him suggested that his manner of investing was not the same as yours), then prove it at the end of the year.

I still believe that all of our intentions in the stock market are to make money. Each and every one of us go about it differently. The winner of the yearly contest can teach us alot about a great way to grow our own portfolios. I hope that it is you, skiracer, so you may teach us all how you did it.

The conversation, on my part, was heading nowhere but enlightenment. I have, within the last few years, realized the failures of communication on my part. I now try to avoid being a jerk to people at all costs (unless they are deserving). But I guess it is more in the delivery of the message, not the content, which makes one perceive a message offered to them as nice or not nice. I am assuming that I failed to deliver my message to you, as you have decided that I am trying to patronize you. I am not![/quote

Sorry I brought it up in the first place Peanuts. Your doing a great job with the POTW and I now see that it is morphing into something other than a stock picking contest which is ok with me. I never insinuated that I was better at any of this than anyone else. Only that staying in CA$H for the entire week or several days per week doesn't place that player within the same parameters of risk as staying in a stock selection for the entire week. But it is no big deal and sorry if I made you look or feel condescending or in a bad light because I don't see you that way. My feelings are that it takes alot more to pick a stock or two per week that provide a positive gain vs staying in CA$H regardless of the player doing it.