At last, one of the most volatile contests in Stock Challenge history has come to an end…
While it was a close battle between members ‘Scoby13’ and ‘Joe Knows’, Scoby13 managed to power through and finish in first place with a return of 89.15%!
Well done Scoby13; few Stock Challengers managed to achieve returns of over 20% this month, let alone finish in the green (15 out of 205 members finished in positive territory).
Close behind Scoby13 is Joe Knows, who finished in second place with a return of 80.70%, and member ‘Vern’, who finished in third place with a return of 68.65% (Vern won back-to-back Breakout Winner badges in the final days of the contest). Had the contest lasted another couple days, who knows, Vern may have taken top spot.
Congratulations to our winners! Silver bullion and Pinnacle Digest swag will be shipped out from Pinnacle headquarters imminently.
For those members whose stock picks were hit hard this month, don’t lose faith. Next month’s Stock Challenge starts tomorrow and provides another chance at winning our prizes.
With the pleasantries now out of the way, let’s break down how Scoby13 managed to thrive in a market where the odds were stacked against virtually every investor…
Champion’s Corner: TVIX
The VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN (more commonly referred to as the TVIX) was the key to Scoby13’s win.
Although exchange-traded notes (ETNs) have yet to catch on with the general investing community (the JP Morgan Alerian MLP Index ETN [AMJ], one of the world’s most popular ETNs, only has a market cap of approximately $1 billion), the TVIX surged in popularity over the past month. The TVIX touched as high as 1000 on March 18, 2020, closing at 313.22 by the end of the month — an increase of approximately 223.24%.
Second place member Joe Knows picked the TVIX to great success as well. Unfortunately, the performance of his second pick — Vaxart (a stock selected by mike, our February 2020 Stock Challenge Champion) — weighed him down just slightly too much.
Honorable Mention of the Month: hotdogger49
This contest’s Honorable Mention of the Month goes to member ‘hotdogger49’, who was close to taking third place before Vern blew past him. The Top 3 will be yours sooner than later!
Stock Challenge Top 10 Leaderboards
How Will the April 2020 Stock Challenge Play Out?
Although the Dow has risen roughly 3325 points (or 17.89%) since last Monday, volatility in the markets is likely to persist until progress on a vaccine for Covid-19 is made. After all, Trump recently signalled that social distancing guidelines would remain in place throughout April and may not be lifted until June.
Even in regions where the coronavirus outbreak has been contained, constant vigilance is required — suggesting that quarantine measures enacted by countries like the U.S. could last into the summer.
“Let me be clear. The [coronavirus] epidemic is far from over in Asia and the Pacific. This is going to be a long-term battle and we cannot let down our guard,” [Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director for the Western Pacific at the World Health Organization (WHO)] told a virtual media briefing.
While it’s hard to believe, April could be even more volatile than March. The uncertainty is no longer around how governments will respond to coronavirus, but rather how long their response (i.e. social distancing guidelines and quarantine measures) will last. Nonetheless, we’re sure Stock Challengers will navigate this volatility and find bright spots in the market along the way. They always do.
