Looking to top the CNBC Portfolio Challenge leader board? The following links will help; Week 10 Final Portfolio, Contest Wrap-up and Thoughts • July 18 Bonus Bucks Answers

CNBC Portfolio Challenge Stock Picks

Business news leader CNBC has unveiled its latest portfolio challenge, with the winner walking away with the grand prize of a cool $1 million. I thought it would be a great idea to have a list of stocks offered by knowledgeable financial bloggers that would be useful to those trying to win the CNBC tournament.For inclusion, each blogger submitted the name of ONE company with its ticker symbol and a brief few sentences on why the stock is a good buy. (Note; the stock must have a market cap of $500 million and trade on the NYSE, NASDAQ, or AMEX)

Before reading the list, watch our VIDEO on the CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge, including our strategy on how to win and what stocks to watch.

The Elliot Wave
Brocade Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD)

My selection is Brocade (BRCD), NASDAQ $3.8 billion market cap. BRCD is in the business of providing storage area network switches for local networks. Sales and profits have been climbing steadily for the past six quarters, through expansion of their core business and acquisitions. After a three year consolidation, the current Elliott Wave pattern suggests a price target in the low to mid teens in the near future.

BioHealth Investor

Bruker BioSciences (NASDAQ: BRKR)The maker of mass spectrometry and x-ray detection systems for both the life science and security industries continues its strong earnings growth over the last couple of years. This is not surprising, as both industries continue to see strong growth world wide, and Bruker is more than happy to provide the necessary tools.

What really makes this stock attractive is how closely it is held. According to Yahoo! Finance, insiders hold about 57% of outstanding shares, and institutions hold close to 34%. This leaves a relatively short supply of shares available on the open market! The company’s CEO, Mr.Laukien, continues his buying frenzy with the purchase of about $1 million worth of company over the last couple of weeks.

One Guy’s Investments
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL)

This discount Brazilian airline is the Southwest/RyanAir of Latin America — they have one of the newest fleets in the air, keep their planes in the air for more hours per day than almost any other airline, offer overnight flights for the most cost-conscious, and continually increase passenger miles by cutting fares, and profits by cutting costs. Competing against bus service, a bloated business airline, and a national flagship airline slowly coming out of bankruptcy, they’re taking market share in their home country and slowly expanding their footprint across South America … all with profit margins that blow other airlines away, and a stock price that’s temporarily depressed by air traffic control problems in Brazil. When they say, “never invest in an airline,” they’re not talking about GOL.

Millionaire Now!
Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW)

Silver Wheaton is the only company that derives 100% of its revenue from silver sales. Investing in Silver Wheaton is essentially an unhedged bet that silver prices will rise in 2007, and that isn’t exactly a risk-free gamble — especially in light of the recent weakness in silver stocks.” One of the sound decisions made by Ian Telfer at Wheaton River before it was merged with Goldcorp was to set up a silver royalty company. This is the purest equity investment in silver production.” from Bill CaraVancouver-based Silver Wheaton is the only company in the world that derives 100% of its revenue from silver sales, all of which are unhedged. The company, 50%-owned by GoldCorp (NYSE: GG), doesn’t own or operate any mines (which helps with low overhead) but rather enters into long-term silver-purchase contracts, through which it buys production from mines and resells that production on the open market. At present, Silver Wheaton purchases all of the silver production from GoldCorp’s Luismin Mines in Mexico and Zinkgruvan Mine in Sweden, as well as silver from Glencore’s Yauliyacu mine in Peru, at a set price of $3.90 per ounce, subject to inflationary adjustments.

Gannon on Investing
Corus Bancshares (NASDAQ: CORS)

Corus is a bank with an excellent long-term record now big in condo construction and thus being shorted like there’s no tomorrow. It has dropped so far so fast, you can now buy a good bank with a proven management team at just above book value. The near-term economic environment will be brutal for them; but, today’s price will encourage good share price performance even while business performance is poor.

Stock Market Beat
Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI)

My stock would be Itron. Why? At less than $2 billion in market cap, a very small company is the industry leader in automated meters for utility companies. The current upgrade cycle as utilities move to more efficient automated readers (rather than have people go out and check them manually) has recently resulted in the company’s largest order ever. Not content to rest on its own laurels, however, the company is entering the European market through a major acquisition that should drive further growth and can easily be financed through existing cash flow and should immediately and substantially increase earnings per share.

The Fly on the Wall
American Home Mortgage (NYSE:AHM).

AHM’s loan portfolio is better-positioned than many in the sub-prime sector. Further, after reviewing its balance sheet, it’s clear that AHM is capable of managing this challenging sub-prime environment. For example, AHM could meet calls for more liquidity via warehouse, repo or commercial paper facilities. Finally, AHM at $24.28 is currently trading at just below book value, which points to an impressive risk/return equation.

Phil’s Stock World
Lenders Holding Co. (NASDAQ: LEND)

Do you want to play the challenge or do you want to win? At PSW we play to win and, given the rules here, no mamby-pamby double is going to do it for you. LEND is a stock that’s gone from 25 to 5 in 30 days but still has a viable businesss and a portfolio that is more than attractive to investment banks, who can well afford the default risk against the stunning returns afforded by the dreaded sub-prime loans. Worst case (since this is play money): You lose, you’re wiped out as the company goes down in flames - it will be glorious! Best case: Morgan Stanley buys the company out for $500M (less than 1/2 of the 12-month average market cap).

My Wealth Builder
Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT)

My pick is Avnet, Inc. (AVT), which distributes electronic components, enterprise network and computer products, software, and embedded subsystems. This stock is one of my top buys using a modified Unemotional Growth system, based on the book the Unemotional Investor, by Robert Sheard. The stock is up over 35% since January 22, 2006, when I purchased it for $26.11 a share. I sold the stock in early March for a 36% gain, but plan to buy it again once the market resumes an upward trend.

Trade Radar
Big Band Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: BBND)

As a small cap selection, I would like to mention Big Band Networks, a recent initial public offering. The company sits in the sweet spot of convergence around bundled video, voice and data; ie, TV, phone and Internet service. Their customer base includes some of the biggest cable and telecom companies and the company is already profitable. Look for Cisco to absorb Big Band soon.

Related Articles

• July 18, 2008 -- July 18 CNBC Daily Bonus Bucks Trivia Questions and Answers
• July 17, 2008 -- Week 10 Final Portfolio, Contest Wrap-up and Thoughts
• July 17, 2008 -- July 17 CNBC Daily Bonus Bucks Trivia Questions and Answers
• July 16, 2008 -- July 16 CNBC Daily Bonus Bucks Trivia Questions and Answers
• July 15, 2008 -- July 15 CNBC Daily Bonus Bucks Trivia Questions and Answers

It's that time of year again. CNBC's Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge will be getting underway on Monday, May 12. The tournament is similar in fashion to last year; each contestant receives 1 million CNBC Bucks and can trade stocks with a minimum market cap of $500 million. In addition to 10 pretty cool weekly prizes, there is a grand prize of $500,000 to the lucky contestant who finishes with the highest portfolio return. The only twist to the tournament is that currency trading is now allowed.

We'll be doing a number of things this time around to help with your trading success and so you can have better shot at winning the tournament. Follow the links below to learn more, and good luck!