Welcome to the second annual Personal Finance Bloggers’ Stock Picking Contest!

The criteria is to pick four securities in equal dollar amounts listed on a Canadian or American exchange (not including derivatives) to just sit on for the duration of 2010 with no changes allowed. We are to provide updates every quarter and the contest ends on the last trading day of 2010. The initial prices will be based on the closing prices of December 31st, 2009 (i.e. yesterday).

This Doesn’t Sound Like You

Regular readers know that I don’t normally talk about specific investments. For the first year’s contest I initially hesitated since I was worried that some readers might take some of these picks to heart and actually buy them themselves as part of their investment portfolios. However, I decided to participate anyways deciding that I’ll just disclaimer the heck out of it. To that end:

This Is Just For Funsies

THIS STOCK PICKING CONTEST IS JUST FOR FUN, IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN GAMBLING. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING THE STOCKS LISTED HERE OR ON ANY OF THE OTHER BLOGGERS’ SITES WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING A PROFESSIONAL FINANCIAL ADVISOR. IF YOU BUY THEM ANYWAYS, YOU MUST RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND BEFORE PLACING THE ORDER AND REPEAT, “I AM A NUTBAR”.

Okay, with that now having been made clear, here are my picks for this year (and the rationale):

1. Cedar Fair L.P. (FUN:NYSE) I picked this because the competition is supposed to be FUN, and this is the ticker symbol for Cedar Fair L.P. (they run a bunch of amusement parks). Stock price as of December 31st, 2009 (close): 11.41.

2. Hathor Exploration Limited (HAT:TSX-V) With the cold months upon us, I think I need a new HAT. Hathor is a mineral exploration company. Stock price as of December 31st, 2009 (close): 1.81.

3. Arctic Star Diamond Corp. (ADD:TSX-V) I can win the competition this year if all my picks ADD up to the highest number. Also, these guys are looking for diamonds in Canada – just like my girlfriend. Stock price as of December 31st, 2009 (close): 0.055

4. AVIS Budget Group (CAR:NYSE) If you are a regular reader, you’ll know that I’m a CAR guy. AVIS Budget group operates the AVIS and Budget rental car agencies. Stock Price as of December 31st, 2009 (close): 13.12.

Let the games begin!

What The Other Guys Are Picking…

Here is a list of links to the other participating members’ picks (if their 2010 posts aren’t ready, it will just link to their homepage until I update the links):

The Million Dollar Journey
The Quest For Four Pillars
The Financial Blogger
The Wild Investor
Dividend Growth Investor
Zachstocks
My Traders Journal
The Intelligent Speculator

We’ll each provide updates every quarter. Stay tuned, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!