The first two weeks of April have elapsed and here’s what we’re seeing…
First off, the Stock Challenge Index (SCI) has spent most of the last couple of weeks in negative territory. The index came up for a short-lived breather only to be dragged back down following hints from US policymakers that tougher measures from the Fed could be on hand to rein in soaring inflation. The markets (tech stocks in particular) reacted poorly to that indication. See the chart below:
The Stock Challenge Index
438 stocks were selected for this month’s contest; and of those, roughly 38% are reporting positive returns so far. Bear in mind that 38% is an improvement from last month where, at this stage of the contest, only a third of the selected stocks yielded positive returns.
On the subject of returns, the average return for the top 10 stock performers continues to underperform compared to historic Stock Challenge levels. This month’s 45% average comes in even lower than last month’s roughly 50%.
Natural resource stocks continue to impress relative to every other sector represented in the contest. Nine out of the top 10 stocks belong to junior resource exploration and development companies. And, with the exception of one player, each of the current top 25 players selected at least one junior explorer.
Top 10 Leaderboard
Perhaps a consequence of the thinning yield we’re witnessing this month, the first two weeks at the top of the leaderboard were a bit topsy-turvy. First place has changed hands almost everyday so far this month, and there’s less than 7% separation between the current 1st place and 3rd place players. We might be in for a wild finish to this month’s contest!
Best of luck to you all for the remainder of the month! Don’t forget to sign up for May’s Stock Challenge when you have a moment. While there’s still plenty of time, we’d hate to see you miss out on a chance at winning silver bullion and Pinnacle Digest swag.
