Scanning across the top 20 widely held stocks of the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio, most of the names have been pretty consistent over the past few weeks. Heck, some of the names have been there since day one. The loyalty has not been rewarded. SIRI, RAD, ABK, F, AMR, LCC, WM, CFC, CC, JBLU, DAL, C, RFMD -- all stocks in the top 20 list -- are lower.  LVLT and SOLF might be higher for some contestants, depending on when they got in. IVAN, ESLR, CDE and BQI are higher. There’s no question that this market has been tough for the buy and hold traders. The question that I have is how long do you decide to hold these stocks with about two and a half weeks left in the contest?  I don’t see any particularly compelling reason for the market to rally sharply in that time. And the possibility of a takeover in one of these stocks seems slim with the financial world still recovering from the credit crisis.

The leaders in the contest so far have been the ones who have been more aggressive buying and selling energy stocks, as well as placing bets ahead of earnings. I’ll let you decide whether it’s luck or skill. Although that strategy has been very volatile as of late, the early gains from those trades have sustained the top contestants. Without a big rally, it will be tough for anyone to catch them in the next couple of weeks. But who knows?  Anything’s possible in trading.

Tom Preston, thinkorswim, Inc.

thinkorswim, Inc. and its registered employee, Tom Preston, do not solicit or recommend any form of trading in the individual stocks (or their derivatives) mentioned above.  Please do careful, independent research before investing any money as well as weigh the possible consequences on your particular financial situation before doing so.  The risk of loss may be substantial.

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