CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge: Top 0.1%

OK, so I didn’t buy Amazon (AMZN) before their earnings report and missed an opportunity to log an ‘easy’ 27% gain yesterday. I still made up some ground, however, with a more than respectable 2.9% gain in VECO.

My portfolio is now up to $1.69 million, but with tenth place in the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge at $2.93 million, the task ahead continues to be a formidable one. On the plus side, at #1260 out of 1,324,502 contestants, I can at least claim to have made it into the top 0.1%.

As this contest has progressed I have discovered the need for an earnings spike potential algorithm and have spent some time testing and refining such a beast. Yesterday, before the close, it kicked out three companies with a high potential to spike after they reported earnings after hours. The good news is that the algorithm (which I will be glad to talk about after this contest is over) produced three highly volatile plays for today: SWKS (up 21% a little after noon EDT); HLIT (down 15%); and ARBA (down 9%.) Of the three, I looked hardest at SWKS and ended up passing on this one, as well as the other two. The potential for volatility was certainly there, but I was concerned that it was more likely toe be in the wrong direction. Instead, I went with a slightly less volatile play that has been showing a lot more momentum in the run up to earnings: GSI Commerce (GSIC), whose retail e-commerce solutions helped deliver a quarter that was good enough to overcome two analyst downgrades that knocked the stock down early this morning. After opening down 5.3% this morning, the stock has rallied to where it is currently trading up 4% on the day.

And now for the horn tooting portion of this post. For those who are late to the CNBC party, in the past when I have tooted my own horn here I have used the opportunity to highlight one of my favorite horn players. First up were two jazz trumpeters: Clifford Brown; and Lee Morgan. Today I want to turn my attention to classical music and Dennis Brain, who may be the greatest classically trained horn player of the modern era. If you are not sure whether you are a fan of classical music, you owe it to yourself find a way to introduce your ears to Brain’s 1953 rendition of the Mozart horn concertos. If this turns out to be a transformational experience in your life, don’t say I didn’t warn you.