CNBC’s “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge” now open to Australian residents

Aug. 25, 2011 - PRLog -- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, August 26, 2011—What would you do if you had a million dollars? Would you buy something? Invest it? Give it away? Starting today, all aspiring millionaires can register to try their hand at managing a U.S$1 million “CNBC Bucks” stock & currency portfolio for the chance to win the grand prize of U.S$1 Million in CNBC’s fourth annual “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge.”

"CNBC's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge offers Australian investors of all experience levels – serious, casual and even non-traders, the opportunity to test their skills and knowledge at trading stocks and currencies in a simulated environment,” said Jacqueline Lam, Vice President, Marketing and Distribution, CNBC in Asia Pacific. "Participants will not only gain valuable experience about the equity and currency markets, but will also have a chance to win incredible prizes, drive away in a Maserati GranCabrio Sport or become a millionaire.”

For the first time, the challenge is using social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter to allow competitors to share how they are going.

Trading officially starts on Monday, September 19 at 11:30 p.m. AEST and, for the first time, the contest has gone international and is open to permanent residents of the U.S, UK and Australia. Registered “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge” contestants all receive a virtual million U.S. dollars to fictionally trade stocks and exchange traded funds on the NYSE, AMEX, LSE and ASX exchanges as well as currencies in real-time, in up to five separate portfolios.

Each week during the “Challenge,” the participant with the highest weekly percentage gain on Saturday at 6:00am AEST will win a three-night trip to one of Kerzern International's luxurious One&Only or Atlantis resorts around the world.

Trading officially ends on Saturday November 26 at 4:00am AEST. The participant who has the portfolio with the highest aggregate value at the end of the “Challenge” will be awarded the Grand Prize. The second place winner will drive away with a Maserati GranCabrio Sport.

Past “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge” winners include Mary Sue Williams of St. Clairsville, Ohio, a waitress at an Italian restaurant; Edward Burke, a jazz musician from Shippensburg, Pa.; and Stephen Weber, of Lakewood, Ohio, a systems analyst.

CNBC’s 2011 “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge” is exclusively sponsored by FXCM.

“We are pleased to be the exclusive sponsor for CNBC’s Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge this year,” said Sameer Bhopale, Chief Marketing Officer, FXCM Inc. . “With the growth of retail traders actively joining the currency market, the contest gives us an opportunity to not only show off our platform’s superior trading technology and execution, but also to provide education, news and research on the forex markets. It gives traders an opportunity to test the FX market and test their strategies while playing for the grand prize.”

Follow the “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge” on both Twitter at @cnbcMDPC (hashtags: #ifihadamilliondollars; #portfoliochallenge), and Facbook at
http://facebook.com/cnbcmilliondollarportfoliochallenge.  

Tune into CNBC’s Cash Flow from Australia on Foxtel (Channel 652) from September 19 at 1:40pm AEST Monday – Friday for your Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge Update where we track the top contest performers.
 

*The CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge is open to Australian residents aged 18 and over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhED0jUCKco