Playboy Model Tops All Mutual Funds in Q3
For the first time in seven months there’s a new leader in the
TradingMarkets/Playboy 2006 Stock Picking Contest. Q1 and Q2 were dominated
by
Amy Sue Cooper, 2005 Cyber Girl of the Year, mainly thanks to the
spectacular gains in energy stocks Pacific Ethanol
(
PEIX |
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PowerRating) and
Dril-Quip
(
DRQ |
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PowerRating). However, energy prices peaked in July and have
experienced a sharp decline since August, leading to declines in energy stocks. Meanwhile,
retail stocks have been strong since the start of Q3, boosting the performance
of
Courtney Culkin.
At the end of Q3 (9/29/06)
Courtney’s portfolio is +36.58% year-to-date. By comparison, at the end of Q3, the ProFunds
Telecom UltraSector Inv (TCPIX) is the best performing U.S. stock mutual fund
with a year-to-date return of 35.15% and the average performance of 9866 U.S. stock mutual funds is +5.57%
(data through 9/29/06). Therefore her performance ranks above all U.S. stock
mutual funds (based on data provided by Morningstar.com).
Courtney’s two best-performing stocks
are both in the retail sector; Bebe Stores
(
BEBE |
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PowerRating) +76.62% and
Steve Madden
(
SHOO |
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PowerRating) +101.37%. Her lead in the contest is more than double that of second placed Amy Sue Cooper, and
with just Q4 to go the contest appears to be down to four contestants. Check the
standings every day at TradingMarkets.com to see who will win the $50,000
charity prize.
TradingMarkets.com will give $50,000 to the charity of the
winner’s choice. Courtney Culkin has chosen
AVERT.org, an international HIV/AIDS charity based in the UK.
Ashton Dorkins
Editor-in-Chief