And ... we have another winner!

Today's closing prices for a barrel of oil and an ounce of gold were $140.00 and $926.20, respectively, making TP the winner of the fourth semi-annual "Guess the Price of Oil and Gold" contest by a narrow margin over CW, Linda M, and yours truly.
It was a close race with not a lot of movement in either the price of oil or gold since entries closed on April 22nd, at least when viewed on the scale of the chart above.

However, since the first contest in late-2006, it's a different story:

• Contest #1 - Dec. 2006 - Oil $ 61.05, Gold $636.00
• Contest #2 - Jun. 2007 - Oil $ 70.45, Gold $647.50
• Contest #3 - Dec. 2007 - Oil $ 95.98, Gold $834.50
• Contest #4 - Jun. 2008 - Oil $140.00, Gold $926.20

I've got a pretty good feeling which of the two commodities will make the bigger move in the second half of the year...

Here are the top 10 finishers:

TP, whose entry was submitted via email (see this post from April for a complete list of all 111 entries and other fascinating contest details) wins a one-year subscription to Iacono Research, where the model portfolio concluded the first half of the year with an impressive 7.5 percent gain.

Your humble editor has been "in the hunt" the last three times after finishing in the middle of the pack during the inaugural contest in 2006. Consecutive finishes of sixth, tenth, and now fourth make yours truly a force to be reckoned with in the future (note that if I ever do win, only "braggin' rights" will be awarded and the first place prize will go to the runner-up).

Thanks to all who participated - the year-end contest will be open for entries sometime in early October.

Congratulations TP - please send me mail so I can get an account set up for you.

To learn more about investing in natural resources using commonly traded ETFs, stocks, and mutual funds, see this description at Iacono Research. Or, sign up for a free trial.