Suitably Flip

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 7

[Scroll to the bottom for answers to today's Bonus Bucks trivia questions.]

See updates below for today's reallocations (the initial allocations for Week 8).

So, yesterday was, to put it mildly, a fugly one.  Of our 4 allocations, one did manage to register a pre-Bonus Bucks gain despite the massive market sell-off, putting our best-performing subgroup at roughly 18% week-to-date.  Unfortunately, it appears we may not have many folks in that subgroup, since only one player in the whole contest had reached 18% as of Thursday's close.  Still, readers of this site currently account for at least 3 of the top 10 spots on the board.

Khaled Helmi is in 2nd place with 16.0% and Pam Pandeline has two portfolios on the board, at #3 with 15.3% and #10 with 12.7%.

If yours is one of the other names up there and you've been participating in the crowdsourcing experiment (or if you've just been reading the site), go ahead and sound off so we can cheer you on with mild envy. Our goal of course is to dominate that board with as many site visitors as possible (and ideally to see folks grab a few of those weekly prirzes).  And I have a feeling David Barton is toast.  (Unless of course he's one of our own, in which case, go David Barton!)

And for anyone on the board, please let us know which allocations you're in today, so we can follow the horserace in real time, rather than waiting several hours for the hamsters in the giant CNBC wheel in Jersey City to power the adding machine through its daily figurin'.

Check back later in the day for updates and for the first set of Week 8 allocations (which need to be submitted by 4 pm today).

If you'll be joining in for the first time in Week 8, drop us a line to let us know so we can keep a rough count of participating portfolios.

Update:  Looks like Pam's #3 portfolio is in the airlines (LCC, CAL, UAUA, and AMR) and Khaled's is in solar (CSIQ, FSLR, SJR, and ESLR).

Update:  In case anyone's looking to skip out early this afternoon, let's go ahead and put the first set of Week 8 allocations on the board now.

Between Friday evening and Monday morning, the ranks of U.S.-listed companies reporting earnings is pretty small, so primarily we're just dividing into two groups and taking opposite sides of the oil bet (via oil operations companies and airlines).

The one contest-eligible earnings reporter on the slate is Robbins & Myers (RBN), a manufacturer of engineered equipment for the energy and industrial sectors.  Based on its historical volatility, thin analyst coverage, and track record of beating expectations, it looks potentially interesting.  Since its price movements tend to correlate somewhat with oil stocks, we're going to keep it away from the airlines (unlike rational, real-world investors, we need to shun diversification when all that matters are steep, concentrated moves).  So we'll have a single airline allocation and two oil allocations - one with RBN and one without.

For these three, let's allocate according to birth month, as follows:

• Jan-Apr: CAL, LCC, UAUA, AMR
• May-Aug: RBN, KWK, CHK, GMXR
• Sep-Dec: OXY,  KWK, CHK, GMXR

Important:  If you're using more than one portfolio for this project, kindly allocate the first portfolio according to the birthday scheme, the next portfolio to the allocation directly beneath it, and so on, until you've reallocated all participating portfolios.

For example: If you were born in September, and you're using 2 portfolios, your allocations would be:

• Sep-Dec: OXY,  KWK, CHK, GMXR
• Jan-Apr: CAL, LCC, UAUA, AMR 

In all cases, each position should be set at 25%.  Don't forget to enter your trades by 4 pm ET.

Consider all of the above to be for entertainment purposes and not meant to be used as real-world investment recommendations.  The goals and strategies of the Portfolio Challenge are not to be confused with those of sensible investing.

---

See all related posts in the CNBC Portfolio Challenge archive:

Week 7:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 6:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 5:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 4:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 3:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 2:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 1:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 0:  Pre-game

• A New Fly In the Ointment
• Currency Trading Resumes
• More Technical Difficulties
• Prize Poll
• The Airing Of Grievances
• Technical Difficulties, Orders Cancelled

To receive additional updates by e-mail, drop a line here with the word "Subscribe" in the subject header.

---

Friday June 27th

Throughout the contest, each day's answers will be at the top of the CNBC Portfolio Challenge archive as soon as the questions are published, so bookmark accordingly.

Daily Trivia:

Squawk Box:  "Question: Print's not dead at CNBC!  Name the editor of CNBC.com's new "Bullish on Books" blogger."

 Answer:  Gloria McDonough-Taub

Squawk On the Street:  "Question: In Fast Money's Web Extra segment "Najarian’s Sweet Trade" which food & beverage purveyor did Pete Najarian praise?"

 Answer:  McDonald's

The Call:  "Question: In the CNBC.com feature "Shorting Stocks Could Be Way to Play This Market" which strategist predicted "one ugly decline"?"

    Answer:  Kathy Boyle

Power Lunch:  "Question: In the slideshow "Lifestyles of the Super Rich" how much do the swank Christian Louboutin pumps go for?"

 Answer:  $2,500

Street Signs:  "Question: In the Web video "Inside Look at Offshore" which firm's oil rig did Janet Shamlian report from?"

 Answer:  Chevron

Closing Bell:  "Question: On The Money blog: In the post entitled "Cheap Is Sexy" which phrase is the blogger's own advice?"

 Answer:  "Vote with your wallet"

Comments

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 7

[Scroll to the bottom for answers to today's Bonus Bucks trivia questions.]

See updates below for today's reallocations (the initial allocations for Week 8).

So, yesterday was, to put it mildly, a fugly one.  Of our 4 allocations, one did manage to register a pre-Bonus Bucks gain despite the massive market sell-off, putting our best-performing subgroup at roughly 18% week-to-date.  Unfortunately, it appears we may not have many folks in that subgroup, since only one player in the whole contest had reached 18% as of Thursday's close.  Still, readers of this site currently account for at least 3 of the top 10 spots on the board.

Khaled Helmi is in 2nd place with 16.0% and Pam Pandeline has two portfolios on the board, at #3 with 15.3% and #10 with 12.7%.

If yours is one of the other names up there and you've been participating in the crowdsourcing experiment (or if you've just been reading the site), go ahead and sound off so we can cheer you on with mild envy. Our goal of course is to dominate that board with as many site visitors as possible (and ideally to see folks grab a few of those weekly prirzes).  And I have a feeling David Barton is toast.  (Unless of course he's one of our own, in which case, go David Barton!)

And for anyone on the board, please let us know which allocations you're in today, so we can follow the horserace in real time, rather than waiting several hours for the hamsters in the giant CNBC wheel in Jersey City to power the adding machine through its daily figurin'.

Check back later in the day for updates and for the first set of Week 8 allocations (which need to be submitted by 4 pm today).

If you'll be joining in for the first time in Week 8, drop us a line to let us know so we can keep a rough count of participating portfolios.

Update:  Looks like Pam's #3 portfolio is in the airlines (LCC, CAL, UAUA, and AMR) and Khaled's is in solar (CSIQ, FSLR, SJR, and ESLR).

Update:  In case anyone's looking to skip out early this afternoon, let's go ahead and put the first set of Week 8 allocations on the board now.

Between Friday evening and Monday morning, the ranks of U.S.-listed companies reporting earnings is pretty small, so primarily we're just dividing into two groups and taking opposite sides of the oil bet (via oil operations companies and airlines).

The one contest-eligible earnings reporter on the slate is Robbins & Myers (RBN), a manufacturer of engineered equipment for the energy and industrial sectors.  Based on its historical volatility, thin analyst coverage, and track record of beating expectations, it looks potentially interesting.  Since its price movements tend to correlate somewhat with oil stocks, we're going to keep it away from the airlines (unlike rational, real-world investors, we need to shun diversification when all that matters are steep, concentrated moves).  So we'll have a single airline allocation and two oil allocations - one with RBN and one without.

For these three, let's allocate according to birth month, as follows:

• Jan-Apr: CAL, LCC, UAUA, AMR
• May-Aug: RBN, KWK, CHK, GMXR
• Sep-Dec: OXY,  KWK, CHK, GMXR

Important:  If you're using more than one portfolio for this project, kindly allocate the first portfolio according to the birthday scheme, the next portfolio to the allocation directly beneath it, and so on, until you've reallocated all participating portfolios.

For example: If you were born in September, and you're using 2 portfolios, your allocations would be:

• Sep-Dec: OXY,  KWK, CHK, GMXR
• Jan-Apr: CAL, LCC, UAUA, AMR 

In all cases, each position should be set at 25%.  Don't forget to enter your trades by 4 pm ET.

Consider all of the above to be for entertainment purposes and not meant to be used as real-world investment recommendations.  The goals and strategies of the Portfolio Challenge are not to be confused with those of sensible investing.

---

See all related posts in the CNBC Portfolio Challenge archive:

Week 7:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 6:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 5:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 4:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 3:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 2:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 1:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Week 0:  Pre-game

• A New Fly In the Ointment
• Currency Trading Resumes
• More Technical Difficulties
• Prize Poll
• The Airing Of Grievances
• Technical Difficulties, Orders Cancelled

To receive additional updates by e-mail, drop a line here with the word "Subscribe" in the subject header.

---

Friday June 27th

Throughout the contest, each day's answers will be at the top of the CNBC Portfolio Challenge archive as soon as the questions are published, so bookmark accordingly.

Daily Trivia:

Squawk Box:  "Question: Print's not dead at CNBC!  Name the editor of CNBC.com's new "Bullish on Books" blogger."

 Answer:  Gloria McDonough-Taub

Squawk On the Street:  "Question: In Fast Money's Web Extra segment "Najarian’s Sweet Trade" which food & beverage purveyor did Pete Najarian praise?"

 Answer:  McDonald's

The Call:  "Question: In the CNBC.com feature "Shorting Stocks Could Be Way to Play This Market" which strategist predicted "one ugly decline"?"

    Answer:  Kathy Boyle

Power Lunch:  "Question: In the slideshow "Lifestyles of the Super Rich" how much do the swank Christian Louboutin pumps go for?"

 Answer:  $2,500

Street Signs:  "Question: In the Web video "Inside Look at Offshore" which firm's oil rig did Janet Shamlian report from?"

 Answer:  Chevron

Closing Bell:  "Question: On The Money blog: In the post entitled "Cheap Is Sexy" which phrase is the blogger's own advice?"

 Answer:  "Vote with your wallet"