I've been reading a number of the forums on here and I haven't seen many posts where individuals are actually identifying the investments that they believe will provide strong returns.  I think it is time for a challenge.

The rules are simple.  Pick three stocks before midnight to be included in the following trading day.  The one day returns (close vs. the previous day's close) will be ranked and posted here.  Comments on your stock selections would be appreciated as this is intended to be a learning experience for our fellow investors and traders.

I will start as a representative of the "Monkey" species with the following three stocks for Monday June 1st:

GLBL -  - Global Industries - the energy sector is hot right now

BTU - Peabody Energy - coal stock with strong potential   

WDC - Western Digital - a strong tech stock in a rebounding market

If you've got three better ideas and you think you can outsmart the "Monkey" species, post them here.  Winner takes all the bananas.

Good luck. 

I wont say that I can outsmart anyone on this board..... sometimes its better to be lucky than skilled, though skills are very much necessary, especially in the market. That said... I'm going to represent as a high flying eagle with the following picks for June 1, '09:

THC - Healthcare

CERS - Biotech

ITRI - Technology

I'm playing these mostly for technicals, though THC has pretty sound fundamentals, its technicals have been off the charts coming into the month of May. It has seen a pull back in the first half of May and has since started up with its run again.... I think this one is headed north of $4.50. There was significant up volume going into Friday's close, and if you look at the MACD with the following settings (3,8,13), the MACD found support on its signal line and is turning back up. Mary622 called this one out last weekend. I started buying on the 26th, and throughout the week, with a cost basis of $3.15.

CERS has been in consolidation for the entire month of May. It recently broke above a key level on the 28th at $1.19 with significant up volume. If there is follow through on this one, it will need strong accumulation on at least 1.5 times its average daily volume. I got in with a cost basis of $1.05. I'm taking half of my position off above $2.15 and riding out with the rest.

Finally ITRI is a play on smart grid tech. I have mentioned this name previously in one of my posts. They make electronic meters for utilities, and recently have partnered up with Verizon to combine wireless capabilites with their meters.  It has also been cited that the government will be increasing its investments into smart grid infrastructure. I've been following this name for about 2 months when it was in the low 40's. I got in this name @ $48.44 on the 18th. It spiked the next day and continued higher on the following day. Since then, it has consolidated its gains and found support around the $55-$56 level. It has already moved back up, closing @ $58.34, roughly $10 from where I got long. I see this one north of $65 in June.

 Good Luck to all traders and investors for the month of June!

 i see..this is very critical..

CERS popped up as a vaccine play on the H1N1 "Swine Flu". I'm watching Bloomberg right now where they are speaking about an increase in the number of cases in Australia to 302.

Ok, so while the high flying eagle is watching Bloomberg and doing his stock research on a Sunday night, this money monkey is busy watching a chick flick with Mrs. Monkey. 

We'll give the homework advantage to the eagle.  Let's see if it pays off tomorrow.

Its midnight, looks like its Monkey vs. Eagle for June 1, '09. Good luck and good trading tomorrow buddy!

For the record, I've been slacking all weekend, I had to pick up the homework today. I haven't even started on my Rich Picks segment for this week.  Anywayz.... we'll see how our picks pan out tomorrow.

One of my picks for today (THC) has an upgrade @ Deutsche Bank from hold to buy.

Looks like you took a quick lead with the THC, however your CERS is lagging.  My three are all doing well so far.  Good morning to be an investor.

You got me so far, i should have put my nat gas play on, thats where I'm making serious gains (real money and options portfolio)..... I guess I'm greedy, but I did mention it as a play last week. I guess you get to keep the bananas for today, though the fat lady has yet to sing..... Cers has a bit of a reputation for trading low throughout the day and then closing up 3% to 5%. We'll see in an hour and a half.

 I am not very good at one day return. A good stock is one that performs well over a long period of time. For one day any crapppy stock could be a winner, especially penny stocks

Agreed Barboni, good stocks perform well over an extended period of time and even a crappy stock can look well for a day or two.  I reviewed Rich's 3 picks and he had good reasons to select them.  I also put alot of effort into my selections both on here and with real money.  There's no penny stocks here.  These are strong companies we either own or may own in the future.  We are hoping to educate ourselves as well as others with these suggestions.

Good luck to you.

Strawer:

agree

Acknowledgements, complements and gratitudes need to be posted via the personal wall message system.

 ok, here are my picks: WFR, MTL, JCI

Kelly, your picks clearly outperformed my picks lol. Good job buddy.

I spent most of the day trading in the options portfolio and my real money acct. I made some late day changes to the contest portfolio, it was up marginally today.  By the way, who in the world is buying GM????? Didn't they know they were going into bankruptcy, why do they think the Dow rallied 221 points???? Terrible
Also, by the way, I got a signal on the Dow, the uninitiated can go long DIA.

Hey Rich, it was a great day in the markets and also for our picks here.  Two-thirds of our picks beat the markets - pretty impressive start.  Here's what I've got for results after one day:

I will have my picks for day two later.

Thanks Barboni.  Your three picks did great today.  I will include them for tomorrow (6/02).  It looks like Team Monkey took an early lead over Team Eagle after day one.  Would you like to join either of these teams or do you wish to start your own?  Let me know.

Good luck and thanks again. 

Sucks to be down on the points, but man it feels great to make a mid day option plays that kick back an average of 50%.  I'm in 11th place overall in the options portfolio contest for this month.  Hoping to get closer to the top as the week progresses.  As for my $100k contest portfolio........ will tell how this month turns out. I'm still working on my picks for tomorrow. Hoping I can even the score, this is going to be fun, but more than that, another experience to learn from. 12am is the Deadline for any other participants!

Traders - hope you're having fun.  These recent markets have provided wonderful opportunities.

Investors - be careful.  You've likely had terrific returns lately.  Don't be greedy.  Lock in "some" of your profits rather than risk losing them if there's another big downturn.  If a stock has doubled, sell half and buy it back again in the future if the price drops. 

With that in mind, here are my picks for June 2nd.

GLBL - this one did well for me today and I think the energy sector is the place to be.

ANR - This coal stock is lagging behind the BTU coal play I had today.  This industry still has quite a ways to go to catch up with some of the oil names that have skyrocketed.

HD - Home Depot.  A great company that has not moved as much as some of the more agressive investments/sectors.  With the great returns on Monday for the entire market I believe we need a little something more conservative going into tomorrow to offset the other high beta picks.

Picks Minus Explanation....

SWY

STZ

FTR