Suitably Flip

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Thursday, Week 10

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Thursday, December 1 (the ones posted Wednesday night).

1. What is the “most shorted” stock in the S&P 500 stock index, according to figures compiled this week by CNBC.com?
D. First Solar

2. Gibson Guitar factories in Tennessee were raided last week by federal officials trying to enforce:
B. Logging rules

3. Border guards, teachers and nurses among other state workers walked out on Wednesday in protest against the government's austerity measures. It was Britain's first mass strike in how many years?
D. more than 30 years

I did promise volatility this week.  I hope it's been to your liking.

Leaderboard update:  Despite starting the day in the bearish ETFs, Scott managed to hang on to the top spot, with $1.99M.  This permabear, on the other hand, slipped off the leaderboard entirely (for the first time in a couple weeks - so cold out here, so very... very cold), landing at 57th and 118th.  And that's despite booking some $200k in AMR gains.  Oh yes, I've managed to disappear an impressive pile of fake money in 72 hours. 

In better news, Jane is still on the board at 12th and Denaro is making his leaderboard debut at 14th.  The rest of our crew is in the wilderness, at least temporarily.  But our most prolific dispenser of trading advice, Boston Wealth aka Ben (along with a handful of others) have got this maniacal market wired and are moving up with great ferocity.

Also, I just reloaded the leaderboard and it vanished (forever), the previously announced "freezing" by CNBC to obscure the standings over the final couple days.  For posteritry, I'm posting the most recent version (current as of Wednesday's close), with thanks to Paul for putting it up in a comment to the previous post.

1. Scott Cole  $1,994,263.91
2. morris myers  $1,958,305.63
3. Gary Lewis  $1,947,352.11
4. Simon Sommerfeld  $1,910,802.16
5. Deanna Aho  $1,866,570.63
6. Michael Mondville  $1,864,450.10
7. Jonathan Griffin  $1,838,669.26
8. Seung Kim  $1,837,766.24
9. John W Grosvenor  $1,820,865.55
10. Peter Stacy  $1,811,334.73
11. Ronnie Hart  $1,807,442.40
12. Jane chamblee  $1,806,684.81
13. Todd Pavlik  $1,787,320.04
14. Keith Cimera  $1,761,122.73
15. Rohit Mansukhani  $1,757,992.68
16. Terry Hada  $1,747,821.59
17. Greg van de Sande  $1,724,822.32
18. Bryan Gunter  $1,723,703.44
19. Ryne Varnadore  $1,715,903.66
20. Nicola Craig  $1,709,350.59

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Wednesday, Week 10

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Wednesday, November 30 (the ones posted Tuesday night).

1. How many United States cities are included in CNBC.com’s The World’s Best Places to Live 2011?
D. None

2. UK mortgage approvals rose more than expected in October although the overall picture for lending remained depressed. Mortgage approvals in October were:
D. the highest since Dec 2009

3. Since September, how many billion dollars worth of Hong Kong listings have been shelved because of volatile markets, according to the story Hong Kong IPO Rush Is a Sign of Bearishness: Strategist
C. more than $ 4 billion

Leaderboard update:  Scott remains on top with $2.04 million.  I sank to #16, but Spider jumped up to #4 on some well-timed AMR trades.  This may be the last leaderboard update, as CNBC will no longer provide updates after tomorrow.  Not sure whether we get a final look Wednesdsay or not.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Tuesday, Week 10

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Tuesday, November 29 (the ones posted Monday night).

1. Research conducted by financial services recruitment firm Astbury Marsden showed City workers were expecting what average bonus this year?
B. £19,920

2. Morgan Stanley has cut global growth forecasts for 2012 once again, nearly three and a half months after cutting them in august. What is the firm's new forecast?
B. 3.5%

3. Which of the following is NOT one of three things to watch in Europe this week, according to PIMCO’s Mohamed El-Erian?
D. Stock market performances

Leaderboard update:  Scott is unstoppable lately.  Another strong day now finds him on the verge of $2 million.  Me, I was bearish going into Monday, so I took a stomping and fell from 2nd to 8th (though my next best portfolio rode the bull and jumped up to 46th).  Spider also had a tough day and fell from 5th to 17th.  Jane is also still on the board at 16th.  Alas, Jason and Rahul have temporarily slipped from the top 20, but there's a long week of savory volatility ahead.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Monday, Week 10

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Monday, November 28 (the ones posted Sunday night).

1. In the story " Investors Short HK Property Stocks On China Slowdown" analysts expect property prices in Hong Kong to fall by how much next year?
A. 10-15%

2. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee member Ben Broadbent said there is a risk of recession in the UK in what period?
A. in the fourth quarter

3. According to the CEO of DBS Bank, Piyush Gupta, how large are the bank's savings deposits in Singapore dollar terms?
B. S$80 billion

Leaderboard update:  Going into the final week, Scott and I are still 1st and 2nd, separated by about $110k.  Rahul is back another $100k in 3rd (and 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th).  Spider is 5th and Jason is 16th.

As of early Sunday evening, it was looking to be a bull-friendly Monday, with investors seeming to buy the newest plan the Europeans have begun to plan in order to devise a plan to save the world (and strong Black Friday sales, etc.).  There's an Italian bond auction Monday morning, which may tell us more about the edibility of this latest batch of Euro pudding.

Either way, anyone hoping for a quiet week to cap off the contest should brace for disappointment.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 9

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Friday, November 25 (the ones posted Thursday night).

1. The Bank of England published the minutes to its last meeting on Wednesday. How many members of the Monetary Policy Committee backed maintaining their target level of quantitative easing asset purchases at 275 billion pounds after October's unexpected 75 billion pound increase?
A. All nine

2. According to CNBC’s "Best Books for the Holidays 2011," Walter Isaacson has put together the ultimate biography of what technology and design genius?
C. Steve Jobs

3. Which of the following is NOT included in CNBC.com’s “10 Holiday Shopping Apps That Will Save You Money?”
D. Shopper

Leaderboard update:  Damnit, Scott.  I thought I was terribly clever for squeezing out a few thousand in Australian and UK trading on Thanksgiving, only to see you put up some $24k, extending your lead over me to $60k.

6 days remain.  There can be only... well, 2.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Thursday, Week 9

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Thursday, November 24 (the ones posted Wednesdsay night).

Yes, there are Bonus Bucks tonight, despite not being the eve of a (U.S.) trading day.  Sorry for being tardy.  I didn't think of it until just now.

1. The Head of Investment Strategy at AMP Capital expects China's November inflation figures to come in at what level?
B. 4.5 to 5%

2. According to the 2011 survey on the “Cost of a Thanksgiving Dinner,” what is the increase in the price of a pound of cranberries since last year?
A. 7 cents

3. UK inflation, currently at 5 percent, has ate into people's purchasing power. But which "category" has been hit hardest by inflation?
C. baby boomer (aged 45 - 65)

Leaderboard update:  Scott and I remain 1st and 2nd, respectively, but I did manage to shrink the distance between us by about half (now $1.84M to $1.8M).  Rahul Ghosh's currency frenzy continues to help elevate his 5 portfolios - now ranked 3rd, 4th, 6th 7th, and 10th.  Spider jumped up to 9th.  Jason seems to have slipped to 16th, based on his score, but he isn't featued on the leaderboard.  A number of other readers have written in saying their portfolio totals are incorrect as of today's close.  You're encouraged to contact CNBC Customer Care if you're seeing a similar problem in your portfolios.

Happy Thanksgiving and happy day off!

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Wednesday, Week 9

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Wednesday, November 23 (the ones posted Tuesday night).

1. Independent think-tank Reform said the UK needs how many years of austerity to resolve its debt problems?
D. at least 10

2. Mr Yen, or Eisuke Sakakibara, expects the Japanese authorities to intervene in the forex market once again when the yen reaches what level against the dollar?
B. 75

3. In a recent interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, trader Kevin Ferry of Cronus Futures Management compared long-term interest rates to a:
C. “Hot, sexy girl”

Leaderboard update:  Looks like most of the leaders had a rough day.  I barely managed to stay even (or rather, my losses were small enough to be outweighed by Bonus Bucks), but that was enough to hang onto 2nd place for another day.  Scott was the exception and he more than tripled his lead over me ($1.78M to $1.71M).  Jason also found it tough sledding today, but only slid two spots to 5th with $1.64M.  The 5 Rahuls remain on the leaderboard, with a top rank of 7th.  And Spider's hanging tough at 15th.

Overnight, much like last night, I'm 100% bearish, Scott is half bearish, and Jason is bullish.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Tuesday, Week 9

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Tuesday, November 22 (the ones posted Monday night).

1. What UK stock does billionaire investor Warren Buffet want to buy more of if the price decreases?
C. Tesco

2. A Chicago apartment owned by Oprah Winfrey is available to rent for $15,000 a month. What did she pay for it and when did she buy it?
A. $5.6 million in 2006

3. Exports make up what percentage of China's GDP according to the story "Tough Decisions Face China as Global Woes Grow"?
C. 30%

Leaderboard update:  Our pal Scott Cole had a monster day and jumped into 1st place, with $1.722 million.  Jason and I traded ranks (I'm now 2nd, while Jason's 3rd).  After many days on top, Dennis Mantel slipped to 4th.

That means readers (and writers) of this blog now occupy the top 3 ranks.  Kudos all around, folks.

Speaking of my readers absolutely killing it, Rahul Ghosh once again has all 5 portfolios in the top 20, with a top rank of 6th.  And Freddy Fung is on the bubble at 22nd.

Overnight, I'm 100% bearish, Scott is half bearish, and Jason is bullish.

Update:  Spider/Khaled is also on the leaderboard, at #14.  Sorry for the omission.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Monday, Week 9

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Monday, November 21 (the ones posted Sunday night).

1. Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstrators announced on Friday they had “repossessed” a building belonging to an investment bank. Which bank owns the building the activists gained access to?
B. UBS

2. Consumers in Hong Kong and mainland China will make up what percentage of global luxury sales by 2020, according to CLSA Asia Pacific Markets' research.
B. 44%

3. According to a DuPont report for 2011, what is the most popular color for new car buyers in North America?
B. White/pearl

Futures were pointing sharply lower early Sunday evening, with the Supercommittee throwing in the towel and European armageddon continuing to weigh on sentiment.  Premature congratulations to those who rode the bear over the weekend.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 8

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Friday, November 18 (the ones posted Thursday night).

1. On Wednesday, the Bank of England predicted that inflation would fall to what level in two year's time?
D. 1.3 percent

2. Despite the U.S. consumer confidence at recession levels, Smead Capital Management believes its time to buy shares of consumer discretionary stocks. Which ones does it suggest?
A. Walgreen, Starbucks, Nordstrom

3. According to Hiring For Attitude, one of CNBC.com’s best books for the holidays, what percentage of newly hired employees fail within 18 months?
A. 46 percent

I trust everyone's enjoying the highly vomitous roller coaster this week.  Ready for one more spin, on this options expiration Friday?

Leaderboard update:  Jason maintained his 2nd place rank, though I'm nipping his heels at a new personal best rank of 3rd.  Scott Cole edged up to 6th (and stayed #1 on the weekly leaderboard).  And Freddy Fung is staying strong at 18th.  Pretty soon we're going to have to start listing the leaderboard ranks not occupied by blog contributors to save space.

Dennis Mantel continues to sit at the top of the leaderboard, but for the first time since we made his acquaintance, he had a down day, suggesting he may just be fallible after all.

Overnight, I'm short, Jason's long.

Update:  After the least volatile, but somehow most hellish trading session in the last three (during which I produced a gain of less than $1,000, including the $6,000 in Bonus Bucks), I've somehow maintained my #3 ranking ($1.592M).  It was apparently a blessedly awful day for many on the leaderboard.  Jason also remained #2 ($1.685M), though he managed to move the needle in the right direction, gaining a bit of ground on Mantel ($1.746M).  Scott Cole slipped just one rung to #7.  And all the other spots on the leaderboard are Rahul Ghosh.

Once again, I'm bearish going into Monday, while Jason's bullish.  (I'm bullish in my runner-up portfolio, which crept back onto the leaderboard at #19.)

Update:  I neglected to notice that our buddy Spider (Khaled Helmi) is also on the leaderboard, at #13.  If we include Rahul's 4 slots, readers (and proprietors) of this blog now account for fully 40% of the Top 20 leaderboard.  I want at least 50% by Monday night.  Freddy, denaro, tradingmom, Boston Wealth, we're counting on you!

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

FoxNews.com Live 9-10

I'll be on FoxNews.com Live this morning from 9-10, discussing New Gingrich, the EPA, and the economy.

If you miss it live, you can catch a replay at the link until Friday morning (dial the reel back to 00:00:00).

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Thursday, Week 8

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Thursday, November 17 (the ones posted Wednesday night).

1. According to Darren Rovell’s calculations, how much of their own money did NBA players put on the line with their announced intention to disband their union?
B. $3.3 billion

2. According to chartist Daryl Guppy, the upside for Nymex oil over the next few weeks is capped at?
C. $110-115

3. According to CNBC.com's guest writer Shaun Rein, which luxury brand is getting too popular for its own good in China?
A. Louis Vuitton

Leaderboard update:  Jason reclaimed his #2 position.  I climbed back to #8.  Our friends Scott Cole (who is definitely a human being) and Freddy Fung are on the board at #7 and #16, respectively, while Denaro is tantalizingly close at #21.

Dennis Mantel continues his epic run and has cruised to a cool $1.8 million, exactly $200k ahead of Jason.

I'm short overnight in my one surviving portfolio, throwing some speculative darts with my now distant runner-up, notably Rambus and Qihoo.  What's the house sentiment here - does the bleeding continue tomorrow morning or do we have a big reversal to the upside?

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Wednesdsay, Week 8

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Wednesday, November 16 (the ones posted Tuesdsay night).

1. UBS Wealth Management expects a fall of how many barrels in global crude oil consumption next year?
B. 500,000

2. Which 2011 member of Congress has an estimated minimum net worth of $44.21?
B. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R.-Fla.)

3. UK Chancellor George Osborne and other ministers are drawing up plans for a big increase in infrastructure spending in the country. How much money will be involved for the projects?
A. $80 billion

Leaderboard update: Jason maintained his top-5 ranking with $1.52 million.  Two of our other friends are on the bubble at 23rd (denaro) and Freddy (26th).  And for the first time, I've got two portfolios on the leaderboard, at 11th and 17th.  Our gradual takeover continues apace.

Meanwhile, overall leader Dennis Mantel ($1.73 million) extends his lead to $200k over the his closest competition.

I've got one bearish and one mostly bullish (with a couple of lottery tickets) going into Wednesday's open.  Whatchyou got?

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Tuesday, Week 8

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Tuesday, November 15 (the ones posted Monday night).

Hmm, they seem to be late today (or maybe CNBC finally set their clocks back; the usual publishing time went from 7 pm to 6 pm the day after daylight savings).  Will update this space when they become available.

Update:  9:40 am and still no questions.  Bizarre.  I'd guess they'll issue a mea culpa and simply credit everyone $6,000.

Update:  In the comments, Miss B notes she got a response from CNBC, saying that, indeed, everyone will simply get the $6,000 today.  I guess someone fell asleep at the trivia machine.

Leaderboard update: Jason hung onto his #2 slot with nearly $1.53 million.  I managed to sneak back on at #15 with $1.41 million.  What's everyone's directional inkling going into Tuesday?  I've got my top performer in the bear ETFs, but my runner-up ($1.37 million) is in the bulls, so I'm relatively indifferent, so long as we get a gap.  But it feels to me like there's still a lot of room below.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Monday, Week 8

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Monday, November 14 (the ones posted Sunday night).

1. Interest rates from the Bank of England are at a historic low, and on Thursday, November 10th the BoE decided to keep them there. Where do rates stand?
B. 0.5 percent

2. Selling your house on the Internet isn’t easy and trying to sell it without photos of the front of the house or the interior makes it even more difficult. What three-time presidential candidate forgot to include these photos on their official home website?
C. Ron Paul

3. According to CNBC.com’s rankings based on the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” study, what is the “worst” country for business?
B. Venezuela

Note that question 3 has appeared before - don't know if they're recycling or if it's a glitch.  So if you're answering these on Sunday night, you might want to check in again on Monday before 4 pm to make sure they haven't replaced it with a fresh one.

Amazingly, Jason has clawed his way into 2nd place overall, with a hefty $1.52 million.  Good luck this week to Jason and loyal readers of all ranks.

How's everyone positioned going into Monday's open?  Me, I'm short across the board.  I don't know if itll be Monday, but I'm guessing we'll shortly experience a day of reckoning to clobber last Wednesday, the first time we get actual new news out of Italy that's anything shy of rosy and sweet and pre-announced and orchestrated.

Of course, that's basically the same thesis I was operating under on Thursday and Friday, and you'll notice my name is no longer featured on the leaderboard.

Futures were pointing higher early Sunday night.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 7

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Friday, November 11 (the ones posted Thursday night).

1. While questioning former News Corp executive James Murdoch in UK parliament on Thursday, Labour MP Tom Watson compared James, the son of Rupert Murdoch, to what?
C. a "mafia boss"

2. According to the author of a book about the history of MTV, the cable channel’s relationship with the record labels passed through these four distinct phases:
D. Disdain, resentment, dependence, indignation

3. The stock market of which emerging economy is the worst performer of the year, but still holds long-term promise, according to CNBC's guest writer Michael Yoshikami.of YCMNET Advisors.
B. India

Sorry for the delay in posting tonight.  What should've been a 90-minute flight from New York to Charlottesville early this morning turned into a 14-hour odyssey.  There's fog in New York, you see, and apparently airplane fuselages are unable to penetrate fog.  After a few hours of staring out at empty, misty runways and monitors covered with the word CANCELED, I threw in the towel and drove the 400 miles.

Anyway, being separated from my trading screen didn't do me too much harm.  I'm delighted to have hung onto a top 10 ranking, though I did slip three spots to #8.  Jason Huizinga vacated the 8-spot to make room for me and leapt to #4.  I'm also cooling my heels in 4th place on the weekly leaderboard [correction: 5th place; can't count, been a long day], though that portfolio and my overall top-performer are currently both positioned the same way for Friday (bearish) and such alignment makes me itchy, particularly as tomorrow will be another day when I'll be hard-pressed to find my way to an internet machine to twiddle with positions during the trading session.  Alas.  Maybe armageddon will strike and all will be well.

(Many thanks to those of you who emailed or posted comments on the previous post with Friday's Bonus Bucks answers in my tardiness.)

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Thursday, Week 7

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Thursday, November 10 (the ones posted Wednesday night).

1. Greg Dove of the National Flea Market Association, noted that the flea market industry has estimated annual sales of how much?
C. $30 Billion

2. What is the Dow's target for January according to chartist Daryl Guppy?
B. 12,600

3. With companies in the S&P 500 stock index reporting record profits, why aren’t stock prices also hitting record highs, according to Fast Money’s Karen Finerman?
D. “The expectation is that earnings may decline if Europe can’t get out of its own way.”

Thanks to today's carnage, I'm making my Top 5 debut today in the overall leaderboard.  I jumped into our buddy Jason Huizinga's spot, while Jason is temporarily slumming it in 8th place.

Congrats to everyone who hung on to bearish positions for dear life throughout the wild Wednesday session (or at least made it out alive).  And if you got crushed, don't despar.  There sould be plenty more opportunities to ride the volaility rocket in the coming days.

Of course the $1,000,000 question now is: how are you positioned going into Thursday's open, in the wake of all that madness?  Long, short, or on the sidelines?

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Wednesday, Week 7

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Wednesday, November 9 (the ones posted Tuesday night).

1. Where is CNBC’s Republican Presidential Debate being held?
A. Oakland University, Rochester, MI

2. British parliamentarians this week took the unusual step of interviewing a revenue and customs lawyer under oath over an alleged "sweetheart" tax deal with what U.S. bank?
D. Goldman Sachs

3. China's clampdown on bank lending has been a boon for banks outside China, according to Standard & Poor's Equity Research. Which Asian bank stock did the firm recently upgrade?
A. DBS

Revisiting the leaderboard, Jason is hanging on at #5 overall, while reader Psychic Webbach rocketed to #23 and #32.  Keep it up, boys.

Thanks to that DYN pop, I climbed back up to #49 overall and have two portfolios appearing on the weekly leaderboard.

Quick show of hands - who reckons we're due for a drastic snapback tomorrow?

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Tuesday, Week 7

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Tuesday, November 8 (the ones posted Monday night).

1. There has been mounting talk that the troubles in Greece will cause the Euro zone to break up. According JP Morgan Asset Management will this happen?
B. No

2. What US retailer said on Monday that it is scrapping plans for a chain of European superstores, and announced that it is buying out its British partner in a mobile phone initiative?
A. Best Buy

3. What luxurious holiday gift comes with a price tag of $5,000?
A. Johnnie Walker Private Scotch Tasting

Our pal Jason Huizinga, having climbed steadily in the rankings since the reset, now stands at #3 overall, with $1.387 million.  Congrats, Jason!

You can benefit from Jason's insights in the comment thread for just about any post.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Monday, Week 7

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Monday, November 7 (the ones posted Sunday night).

1. Mining company Anglo American agreed on Friday to buy a majority stake in what other miner?
B. De Beers

2. Out of the world's 50 largest economies, which is the worst place to do business in?
D. Venezuela

3. In a live interview on CNBC, how did Ken Langone describe the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in downtown Manhattan?
A. "Babies in adults' bodies"

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Trade From Your Phone or Tablet (If You Dare)

If you've tried accessing the contest site from a mobile devce, you've likely been advised to get yourself to a laptop or desktop if you want to place any actual trades.  I've tried using a few different browsers from my Android tablet, to no avail, and CNBC doesn't have that handy "Full Site" button to de-mobilize the site.

But on Monday I'll be mobile for most of the day (and epic volatility may be in store), so I set about finding a workaround.  Turns out there is one.

Your menus might differ, depending on your device and OS, but here's how it goes for Android Honeycomb users:

1. In the browser's address bar, type about:debug, then hit enter.  You may see a Javascript Console toolbar appear.  Ignore it.
2. Open the browser menu and click Settings.
3. Select the Debug tab, then click UAString.
4. Set to Desktop.

When you're done trading, you'll probably want to set the UAString back to Android or iPad or Xoom, or whatever it used to be, then type about:debug into the address bar again to jump out of debug mode.

Now...

Since we've all gotten so caught up in the rules lately, I should point out the following passage from the "Summary of Contest" section:

Although the mobile version of the Site allows for Contest registration (after September 19, 2011) and viewing of Portfolio balances, all other Contest-related actions must be made on the full, non-mobile version of CNBC.com.

I read this as a disclosure of a technological limitation, not an admonition not to trade from a mobile device.  Further, it states only that such actions must be made on the full, non-mobile version of the CNBC.com, not from a non-mobile device.  By employing the above technique, you are indeed using "the full, non-mobile version of CNBC.com"; you're simply accessing that non-mobile version from a mobile device.

Nor does this literal interpretation of the letter of the rules seem to violate any "spirit of the rules" expressed anywhere on the site.  I can't see how mobile trading would give you any undue advantage over desk-bound trading (except insofar as it allows you to trade more flexibly, but that hardly seems like a perversion of the gameplay or a divergence from the real-world activity it seeks to mimic).

In short, who could possibly care?

All that being said, make your own decision and use your newfound ability to trade on the go at your own risk.  I'm confident a few commenters will deem this a dastardly exploitation and get into something of a lather over it.  To everyone else, you're quite welcome.  Happy trading and good luck!

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

Payroll Pick'em

The monthly employment report is due out at 8:30 am.  How many jobs do you suppose were created in October?

Some numbers to bear in mind:

September job growth:  103,000
Market's October consensus:  85,000
ADP's worthless bellwether:  110,000
Needed to match population growth: 125,000-150,000

I'm going to go with 77,000 and an unemployment uptick to 9.2%.

Update:  Payrolls up 80,000, unemployment rate ticks down to 9.0%.

The market seems to be focusing on the upward revisions to previous months, as futures turned positive in the wake of the report.

Update:  Only briefly.  After digesting the numbers more fully, futures fell back near pre-report levels, pointing to a fractionally lower open.

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Friday, Week 6

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Friday, November 4 (the ones posted Thursday night).

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the “10 Biggest Mistakes Made by Small Business Owners?”
A. Relying too much on friends and family

2. According to Matthew Kidman, Author of Bulls, Bears & A Croupier, the Dow Jones Industrial Index will reach what level in 20 years?
D. 100,000

3. BT, the UK telecom giant that reported quarterly financial results on Thursday, has seen its shares rise more than 100 percent since it began a turnaround. When did it begin that turnaround?
B. April 2009

A big jump in the leaderboard-leading gains today, following another wild and wooly day of multiple percent-plus swings.  The new leader Nicola Craig is up 38.1% (versus yesterday's top score 27.2%).

Me, I did swell in the first hour, then got bludgeoned relentlessly the rest of the day, for a net -1% in my top portfolio (dropping from 29th to 128th place).

How'd you all do?  Any of those several new faces on the leaderboard in the house?

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Thursday, Week 6

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Thursday, November 3 (the ones posted Wednesday night).

A UK court ruled on Wednesday that what prominent figure should be extradited out of the country for questioning overseas?
D. Julian Assange

According to Chartist Daryl Guppy, shares of Japanese camera maker Olympus are expected to fall by how much more?
C. 20%

What was Robert Zoellick’s top position during his time at Goldman Sachs?
B. International Vice-Chairman

Well, the currency anomaly seems to have been resolved.  Ted Hamilton disappeared from the leaderboard, leaving a much more tightly grouped distribution among the remaining currency hotshots.  I suppose it's possible he squandered the vast majority of his 278% gain, but it seems more likely that there was a clerical error or another irregularity that's been taken care of.

At the end of three days, the overall top-ranked player had posted a gain of 27.2%, a surprisingly modest leap of less than 5% over the previous day's top gainer (even ex-Hamilton).  I myself fell from the leaderboard, from 17th place to 29th, with $1.215 million (positioned bearishly going into Thursday's open).  My second-best is ranked 38th with $1.212 million and is poised bullishly.  So I'm hoping for any kind of crazy action Thursday morning.  But Rahul Ghosh, with three portfolios on the leaderboard, is going to be hard to beat this week.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011

CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge - Wednesday, Week 6

For answers to the most recent Bonus Bucks trivia questions, click here.

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Bonus Bucks for Wednesday, November 2 (the ones posted Tuesday night).

1. In a live interview on CNBC, Fifth Third Bancorp CEO Kevin Kabat said the bank increased its third quarter earnings through:
A. “Loan growth, expansion of the margin”

2. How much did UK gross domestic product grow in the third quarter, according to a report from the Office for National Statistics released this week?
C. 0.5 percent

3. Inflation in China is still running high but latest manufacturing data shows slowing growth. What do analysts at HSBC and RBC say should be China's monetary stance?
C. Targeted Easing

Checking in on the leader board, we see that yesterday's outlier Ted Hamilton has come back to earth a bit.  He's still sitting at #1, but wasn't able to reproduce his astronomical first-day currency gains (and actually lost about $50,000).  Perhaps he's human after all.

The top 20 leaders' scores are a little more sanely distributed today, with a range in gains of 18.3% - 23.3%.  Yours truly vaulted to #17 (#6 in equities) after a few fortunate pivots with our leveraged ETF friends, as the will-he-won't-he drama over George Papandreou's call for a Greek bailout referendum unfolded.

In case you're interested, I've got my top portfolio sitting in the bear funds overnight.  Futures were pointing lower Tuesday night, which augurs well, but who knows what those crazy Europeans will cook up by Wednesday's open.

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Archive:  CNBC Portfolio Challenge 2011