Blade stock market game offers prizes

<br> <img src=http://www.toledoblade.com/assets/gif/TO17150419.GIF> <font color=red><b>VIEW/PRINT</font color=red></b>: <a href= /assets/pdf/TO618071223.PDF target= _blank ><b>Blade Stock Contest entry form</b></a>

It has been a bitter year for stock investors in 2008, but readers can try to get a prize next year by entering the 2009 Blade Stock Market Game.

The rules and entry form require contestants to submit an entry form by year's end with four stocks trading for more than $3 a share. Prizes will include a three-day trip and cash up to $300.

The game will be co-sponsored by the Toledo office of Smith Barney and Central Travel of Toledo.

Here are the rules and entry form for The Blade s Stock Market Game, which will begin Jan. 1, 2009, and end Dec. 31, 2009.

Read the rules, pick four stocks, and postmark your entry by Dec. 31, 2008.

1. Contestants must choose two stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange and two stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Excluded from the contest are stocks priced under $3, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, preferred stocks, options, rights, warrants, and commodity futures. No changes will be permitted during the contest except that each contestant can replace one stock in the middle of 2009 (see Rule No. 9).

2. A hypothetical portfolio of $40,000 will be allocated equally among the four stocks selected.

3. The valuation of each stock at the end of 2008 and at the end of 2009 will be determined by the Toledo office of Smith Barney.

Valuations will be based on stock price only; dividend reinvestment will not be counted. If a company is taken over, the entrant s stock will be subject to the terms of the takeover, such as cash, stock in the new company, or a combination of both.

However, stocks that otherwise become de-listed will be disqualifi ed and no replacement is allowed.

4. The grand-prize winner will be the contestant whose paper portfolio value totals the highest dollar amount at the end. Calculations will be performed by the Toledo offi ce of Smith Barney. Ties will be broken by the closest projection of the Dow Jones industrial average at the end of 2009.

5. First prize is $200 in cash and a 3-day/2-night trip for two people, including transportation and hotel, to Chicago, Toronto, or Tampa during 2010. Some restrictions may apply, such as the maximum trip cost is $650. Travel arrangements will be made by Central Travel of Toledo.

The second-place prize is $300 in cash; third place is $200 in cash.

6. On the accompanying form, contestants must list the name of the company and ticker symbol for each of the four stocks selected. To fi nd a ticker symbol, go to toledoblade.com/business and use the Look up a stock feature.

If the company name and ticker symbol do not match on the entry form, the entry may be disqualified.

Also required is a projection for the Dow Jones industrial average (including two decimal points) for the end of 2009. All parts of the form must be completed. For help determining ticker symbols, email the question to stockcontest@ theblade.com or call Smith Barney at 419-842-5300 and ask for The Blade Stock Market Game information.

Contestants must use either the form or the same information on a 3-inch-by-5-inch piece of paper.

7. Please send entries to: Stock Market Game, Smith Barney, 7124 West Central Ave., Toledo, OH 43617.

8. All entries must be mailed and must be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2008.

9. Half-way through the contest, each contestant is permitted to replace one stock, but a change is not required. The entry naming the new stock and the stock to be replaced must be submitted to Smith Barney, mailed with a postmark no later than June 30, 2009, to the address in Rule No. 7. The new stock must be on the same stock exchange as

the one to be replaced and must meet the criteria in Rule No. 1, such as trading for at least $3 a share as of June 30, 2009.

To submit a change, contestants must use a Stock Replacement Form which will be published in The Blade in June, 2009. It will ask for the name, stock exchange, and ticker symbol of the new stock and the name, stock exchange, and ticker symbol of the stock to be dropped, as well as contestant information. If there is confusion about the new entry (such as if the new stock is on NYSE and the replaced stock is on Nasdaq), the original entry will remain. The June 30, 2009, closing value of the stock to be replaced will be used to calculate the number of shares of the new stock.

10. For the overall contest, only one entry per person is permitted.

All entrants must be 18 or older. Employees of The Blade, Smith Barney, and Central Travel, and their immediate families, are not eligible to participate.

11. If an entrant moves or changes his or her phone number during 2009, the updated information must be supplied to Smith Barney, either by calling the brokerage at 419-842-5300 or by e-mailing stoc kcontest@theblade.com. Failure to supply this information could result in disqualifi cation from the contest and any prizes.

12. No purchase of The Blade is necessary for participation.

13. Entries that do not follow the rules or that are not legible will be disqualified, without notifi cation to the entrant.

14. By entering, entrants give consent to publication of their names and information about them in Blade articles and give permission to Smith Barney to call them if questions arise about their entry forms.