Beat the Street: Shorts Do Well

TheStreet.com's Beat the Street contest, took off on its third week and shorts led the day, as 18 of the top five's 25 trades were shorts. Lilpre21 took the day 1 lead, building the $250,000 starting portfolio to $273,127 to take the lead in the week-long game. Elguy18 stands in second with $271, 994, just $57 ahead of third place contestant 2137Heida. DuaneK stands in fourth place at $269, 231 and RG95STK15 rounds out the top five at $269,182.

Under the rules of the weekly contest, players will be able to switch one of their five stocks between tonight's market close and Wednesday's market open.

Contestants looking to research their changes should take a look at Patrick Schultz's weekly Power Stock Rankings, which will publish later this morning and includes his take on Apple(AAPL Quote - Cramer on AAPL - Stock Picks), General Electric(GE Quote - Cramer on GE - Stock Picks), Visa(V Quote - Cramer on V - Stock Picks), Citigroup(C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks), First Solar(FSLR Quote - Cramer on FSLR - Stock Picks) and Potash(POT Quote - Cramer on POT - Stock Picks).

Players should also consult Stockpickr's Beat the Street forum, Fast Money's Pops and Drops, and TSC Ratings; Upgrades and Downgrades.

A look at the top 15 players shows that each made at least $10,000 in profits on the first day. Shortly after 10:00 am EDT Wednesday morning, participants will be able to see the final picks of all the competitors and gauge their chances for the week. And remember, the next Beat the Street game will be held next week, so if you missed this week, you can register now to get in on next week's game.

Readers should also consult Jim Cramer's take on what investors can learn from the game.