How two investors racked up big returns by picking these mining stocks
Andrew Hebb in Halifax on Thursday. Mr. Hebb says he relied on volatility — and a touch of luck — to come out on top in The Globe’s contest.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Winners of The Globe and Mail’s inaugural stock-picking contest took home $10,000 in cash prizes this month, beating thousands of competitors with carefully curated portfolios built to withstand geopolitical factors and volatility.
Their stock picks shot past even a strong 35-per-cent surge from the TSX Materials index over the same period, as gold and silver prices hit all-time highs, with the top competitor finishing the contest with a 78.4 per cent return.
The players were part of The Globe’s free Trade Off stock simulation game, and started with $100,000 in virtual cash to build their own portfolios.
Here’s an inside look at two winners’ strategies and what they learned from the 12-week Trade Off competition.
How these players won a total $10,000 from The Globe’s first stock-picking contest
Andrew Hebb, 36, Halifax
What he won: $5,000 for 1st place
His stock picks: Agnico Eagle Mines, Endeavour Silver, Micron, Applied Materials, Seagate and Western Digital
Andrew Hebb relied on volatility – and a touch of luck – to come out on top in The Globe’s contest, he said. His volatile contest portfolio maximized his potential upside without the risk of losing real-life money, he said.
“Fourth place is as good as last place” in The Globe’s contest, he said. “You don’t worry about risk. In fact, you want as much risk as possible.”
Once he beat thousands of players to become one of the contest’s top three players by the second week, Mr. Hebb – whose background is in electrical engineering – focused on differentiating his portfolio, focusing on gold and silver mining firms and technology companies.
But upon securing the coveted top spot on the leaderboard and a comfortable lead over other top players, he flipped his strategy on its head, looking to correlate his portfolio as closely as he could with other frontrunners.
Although Mr. Hebb said he looks to minimize risk with his real-life investments, he said the contest taught him about skewed expected returns – the chance of a typically high-performing company suddenly crashing.
And the winner of The Globe’s stock-picking contest is…
Mike Peters, 60, South Glengarry, Ont.
What he won: $2,000 for 3rd place
His stock picks: Wheaton Precious Metals, Endeavour Silver, Aya Gold & Silver, OceanaGold, Pan American Silver, and Peyto Exploration
Mike Peters secured third place in the contest by going all-in on resource stocks, particularly precious metals, he said.
“In a world of political and economic uncertainty, gold and silver always do well,” Mr. Peters said in an e-mail, adding he felt technology and artificial intelligence sector stocks were overvalued.
His choices were a mix of stocks he holds personally and “pretty much random picks,” the retired aircraft mechanic said.
“I’ve been investing in resource stocks since the early 90s,” Mr. Peters added. “We are pretty much in what I believe is the middle of a very big bull market for precious metals.”
He said The Globe’s stock-picking contest taught him that with his competitive strategy, buying and holding stocks is “much better” than day trading.
“But I think after 35 years of investing experience, I already knew that,” he quipped.
Sign up now for the second season of Trade Off, The Globe and Mail’s free, online stock-picking contest. Demonstrate your market mastery and compete for a $5,000 grand prize.
