CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 5

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

Here we are at the halfway point of regular season trading.  Reader Bradford Pine remains in the top ten and many of you have written in with details of your top 100 standings.  Not bad with roughly 510,000 active portfolios.

We've yet to snag any of the weekly bids to the final round, but with many of you having successfully drained your currency allocations, we've got a nice big group of leaner, meaner portfolios with which to ply our group strategy going into the second half of the contest.  We'll also be returning to a somewhat more intricate set of daily allocations (as distinct from the single pair we've used in the last couple weeks).  It's a bit more legwork, but it should give us a better shot of taking down at least a couple of these weekly prizes.

That said, the first of the Week 6 allocations will use just the single pair of leveraged ETF baskets, so things start off simply enough.

Allocate according to ZIP code - if it ends in an odd number, use the ultrabulls; even, use the ultrabears.

Remember to go through the reallocation process even if the portfolio in question is already in the same basket - it's important to rebalance each name to 25% of your allocation.

1. Ultrabull (RE/2xFin/Russell 2k):  URE, UWM, UYG, RFL (25% each)
2. Ultrabear (RE/2xFin/Russell 2k):  SRS, TWM, SKF, RFN (25% each)

 

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.

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See all related posts in the CNBC Portfolio Challenge archive.

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
Pre-game:  CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Is Back, Strategy Primer

Extra Stuff:  The Biggest Loser, Interview With Bradford Pine

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Friday December 19th

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:  On Dec. 18, Juerg Zingg offered CNBC his commodity picks for "brave" investors. His refinery stocks included:

  Answer:  Valero

Squawk On the Street: Question:  In Phil LeBeau's blog post "Chrysler On Life Support..." what multitude of animals does he mention?

  Answer:  herd of cattle

The Call:  Question: In the article "Avon, Tupperware Thrive in Economic Downturn", which retailer's famous nickname did Larry Nusbaum use?

  Answer:  Bloomingdale's

 Power Lunch:  Question:  On Dec. 16, whom did Jim Cramer give his "Plaxy" (Plaxico Burress) Good Judgment Award to?

  Answer:  SEC boss Christopher Cox

Street Signs:   Question:  In the Fast Money blog post, "Fed Trying To Smoke You Out?", what investment does Pete Najarian suggest?

  Answer:  Siemens stock

Closing Bell:  Question: According to our slideshow "Bernie Madoff & the $50 Billion Heist" whose charitable trust had 10% tied up w/ Madoff?

  Answer:  Mortimer Zuckerman

Weekly Quiz:

Question:  A sell stop is placed? 

   Answer:  Below the stock price