There's something not quite right here. It looks like a financial journalist knows what he's doing. This share race is only in its second week and the Financial Review's Phil Baker is already $5159 up?
This puts us in mind of that crime-comedy film Snatch, featuring Brad Pitt as a gypsy bare-knuckle boxing champion. No matter where you look in that film the game seems rigged.
Baker has apparently legitimately leaped ahead in our competition because he put his money on 1-Page, a revolutionary cloud-based human resources provider from the US.
Ever heard of it? Me neither.
Apparently 1-Page was the first Silicon Valley company to list on the ASX, and its share price has been doing quite well recently.
Baker's notional $10,000 investment in the company has increased to $16,081 in just two weeks. Not bad eh? He was also the only member of our competition to know that the company was worth betting on.
It's a tough lesson for Ben Richards, our most youthful competitor, because he chose a more conservative portfolio than Baker and it's cost him $2065 already. He now sits in fourth place, behind an investment club calling themselves "8 Mugs" and an individual named Ben Power, who refers to himself as a "struggling dreamer".
We note, for no reason in particular, that Baker needs no such self-deprecations.
This share race is taking place at a volatile time. China's shareholders are worrying themselves sick about the deep dives and twists of their stock prices. Australia's banks are getting flogged on the ASX. The Abbott government is spending huge political capital protecting the interests of an Indian mining company with Australian operations.
Who knows where the sharemarket will be in two weeks' time?
Our competitors will have to hang on for the ride. Good luck.
Gareth Hutchens
