Still no winner in CNBC contest

Tim Catts of BusinessWeek.com notes that business news cable network CNBC‘s self-imposed July 8 deadline for naming a winner in its stock picking contest came and went without a winner being named.

Catts wrote, “It’s unclear exactly how CNBC will decide on a winner. The channel could run the entire contest again from scratch, or it could rerun the final round, allowing some or all of the 20 finalists to participate. It could also award the prize money to the highest-scoring finalist who did not engage in any questionable activity.

“If the latter method is used, BusinessWeek‘s analysis of the trading results suggests that the most likely winner is Mary Sue Williams, a waitress who has never bought or sold a real stock in her life (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/20/07, “The Million-Dollar Waitress”). She secured a place in the final two-week round of the contest by picking stocks she knew, such as WD-40 (WDFC) and Crocs (CROX). In the finals, she saw a return of 17%, good for sixth place in the last published standings.

“A day after the deadline passed, a CNBC spokesman said the channel had nothing to add to its previous statements. Sporkin and Neohapsis President Brooke Paul declined to comment on the state of the investigation or their roles in it. Symantec did not return calls seeking comment.”

Read more here.