CNBC stock picking show stokes controversy "Business Week calls CNBC's stock picking contest the American Idol of market watchers. If that's so, what a juicy scandal this is: Several top contestants may have exploited opportunities that allowed them to "pick" stocks after big run-ups. Kind of like backdating options. CNBC has issued a notice noting that there have been allegations of practices "in violation of the contest rules" and that the issue is being investigated. Business Week has more juicy details about one man who ferreted out the possible wrong-doing. He basically made the game his full-time pursuit. The fact that $1 million goes to the winner makes this a big deal. Some of the gains logged by participants do seem a bit fantastic. All this reminds of the quiz show scandals of the 1950s." - from Fierce Finance CNBC's Easy Money BusinessWeek uncovers that the cable channel's own design flaw may be behind the investigation into its million-dollar stockpicking contest http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily...45.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story
Its kind of how cramer reports his results. He pumps a pick on his show and he gets credit for the prior day closing price.
thanks for posting this; cnbc's barely made mention of the holdup for the past few weeks. no, i'm not in it - was curious as to 'how' people could have circumvented the rules. now i know. by the way, i'm not sure if they still do it this way, but many firms - in their analysis of "here's how our upgrades/downgrades did this year" - used to do the grading as if they priced it at 4 pm. so, stock A has great earnings after hours? upgrade it before the open next morning, and you're counted as the 4 pm price.
i came in the 400's,which i was actually proud of..i stayed in the top 1% throughout..if this is true,they should start the damn contest over...
I think they are going to call the whole thing off and split the $1m among themselves in the name of "integrity".
I was a commentator on CNBC's "How to Win" program for this contest and it was great fun. I even brought some models on one night to showcase a few incredible stock charts: Click here to see Models on CNBC It sickens me to think that they'll probly never have another contest again thanx to all you bastards who are complaining. A few people cheated, get over it--if you had thought long and hard enough, you, too, could have done it and possibly gotten to the finals. Obviously cheating is wrong, but CNBC tried to put on a fair contest, but in the end, only this negativity will be remembered and that's sad.
Their contest was a joke anyway. Limited products available for trading, no shorting, etc. Oh, and the way the trade "execution" (time/price) was setup was just pathetic.
I have no doubt that CNBC attempted to put on a "fair contest". But whatever that "fair contest" was about, it was not about stock picking. Rather, it was about setting up multiple accounts so that one could pick various risky stocks, swing for the fences, and thereby luck out in one of your accounts. Or indeed, figure out a way to enter an order so that you game the system for in after hours trading. LOL! I'll stop short of calling that "cheating". But let's face it, the contest was not about trading or investment. I would have expected that CNBC would have taken the time to put on a "contest" that would have rewarded someone who was a good "trader" or "investor". Instead, they designed a system that rewarded talents far from trading. You figure out what those talents were. Sickened by us "bastards"? LOL! If this contest was a farce, why not be sickened by those who designed it, not those who participated. Geezus. Take your head out of your ass. OldTrader