How Becky Smith Won Beat the Street
The market watchers in TheStreet.com's Beat the Street contest have it relatively easy this year: Each week the game resets, and everyone has a chance to compete for the weekly $5,000 prize on a level 'trading' field.
Last year? There was just one grand prize ($150,000), and all players had two months to compete for it. The 2007 winner was Becky Smith, a housewife from Newport Richey, Fla., who says it was a full time job to take the top spot. "I woke up every day at 7 a.m. and I was on the computer by 8 a.m. trading and checking stocks all day." In the end, Smith crushed the competition with a $138,000 margin over the next highest trader.
Smith says she learned a lot from the game and was able to
with the people that matter most to her; family and friends. Below, she shares her story with MainStreet.
MainStreet
:
How did you hear about the game and get involved?
Becky Smith
: I watch
CNBC
(GE) - Get Report
all the time. I saw advertisements for the game there. I also saw it at the bottom of the articles that I read on TheStreet.com.
MainStreet
:
What were your strategies in playing the game?
Smith:
: The ASCO
American Society of Clinical Oncology Cancer Conference took place at the same time that the game started and there was a lot of talk about research in biotech companies so, I shorted a number of stocks in that sector. Then, there was a lot in the news about
the mortgage meltdown
so I shorted some smaller mortgage stocks. My strategy was a lot about shorting stocks and making a lot of trades throughout the day. It is more difficult this year because you can't do that.
MainStreet
:
What is your most dramatic memory during the game?
Smith
: There was one day, towards the end of the game that I had a lot of little stocks in the housing sector that I had shorted. They were doing well for me and then all of a sudden it turned. I went from being up $200,000 to loosing my $444,000 at the end of the day. My son was like, 'Mom, get rid of those, you have to get rid of those.' But, I knew that there was no reason they should be going up. And, sure enough by the end of the next day they went down and I was winning the game.
MainStreet
:
How did you spend your $150,000 cash winnings?
Smith
: We have some extended family in Norway so we took an 11 day trip there at Christmas. We put some of it
into our mortgage
and my husband took a big chunk because he works in the construction business and needed it to keep his business going. I also bought presents for some of my neighbors and we like to fish so, we had a pig roast with our fishing friends.
MainStreet
:
Did any of the money go into the market?
Smith
: I have about $20,000 that I play with in the market. I am playing the sectors. Solar stuff is doing well in earnings and dry bolt shipping too. I have done the same trading in real life as I have in the game.
MainStreet
: How was the game educational for you?
Smith
: I had never shorted in real life. I wasn't willing to risk loosing that much money in real life. But, the game gave me the chance to short stocks and see how it worked. I would say 95% of my game was in shorting.
MainStreet
:
How are you doing in this year's game and what advice do you have for others in the game?
Smith
: I have been playing the sectors. Right now I am in airlines but I think that strategy is going to change (laughs). But, this year's game is probably better...You don't have to sit and watch the market all day long. It makes it easier for people who can't do that.