Resources rally powers hurricane Katrina

The midweek rally from resource stocks was made in China after evidence emerged that its government was beating the odds and engineering a soft landing for the high-flying economy.

Even with that boost, the benchmark index could manage a rise of less than 1 per cent, with the incredible shrinking banks weighing it down.

In a dramatic turn, researcher Katrina Christie has zoomed into first place after three of her stocks recorded double-digit returns. Her best was uranium miner Energy Resources, which enriched Katrina after recording a 15 per cent gain.

Meanwhile, "shares race journeyman" and AFR analyst Peter Jones has moved from zero (well, fifth) to hero (well, second) in the space of a week. He's a mere $500 behind the new leader and looks hungry for victory.

Pottsy had some impressive winners (Peninsula Energy and Tap Oil were both up about 18 per cent), which were, unfortunately, paired with some impressive losers (Crossland Uranium and Gold Anomaly). Still, he stays in bronze-medal spot and in contention to move higher on the podium.

Regrettably, but as we all know, the sharemarket is the ultimate zero-sum game (at least for those with their own money in it).

This time it's chartist Richard Pritchard and astro-nut Doreen Daze who lose. From first and second last week, they stumble to fourth and sixth.

Meanwhile, Varun Sablok remains visibly positive despite his wooden-spoon position. And why wouldn't he? He's a long-term investor and it's only week two!

Patrick Commins