Mar. 5--Only two months into The Blade's yearlong Stock Market Game, the 30-year-old leader has built up such a lead that he looks poised to lap the field.

But in the market, as in racing, things can change in a heartbeat.

For the second straight month, Tiffin resident Aaron Howell is riding the 232 percent gain on the strength of Lasik eye surgery company Advanced Medical Optics Inc.

Mr. Howell's hypothetical portfolio of two Nasdaq stocks and two from the New York Stock Exchange is valued at $63,113 -- up 58 percent at the end of February. The portfolio also includes Priceline.com Inc., up 15 percent; Apple Inc., up 5 percent, and industrial hydraulic systems-maker Parker-Hannifin Corp., down 2 percent.

"He's pretty much picked the right stocks that got bought up at the beginning of the year, and he's in pretty good shape," said Scott Anderson, a financial adviser at the Toledo office of Smith Barney, one of the contest co-sponsors.

The contest has a new face in No. 2, Donald Theis of Toledo. His portfolio rocketed from way back with four stocks all in positive territory. Mr. Theis' holdings, with a combined hypothetical value of $46,607, are pipeline companies Buckeye Partners LP and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, videogame publisher Activision Blizzard Inc., and microprocessor designer ARM Holdings PLC.

Keith Syrja of Perrysburg is in third place at a value of $46,196 with a portfolio heavy in normally defensive stocks.

His contest holdings are South African gold mine operator DRDGold Ltd., Canadian precious metals company Yamana Gold Inc., uranium provider USEC Inc., and Canadian metals firm Silver Standard Resources Inc.

Contestants selected two NYSE stocks and two Nasdaq stocks, worth at least $3 a share, by Dec. 31, 2008. An imaginary $40,000 was divided evenly among the four picks. The top-performing portfolio at the end of this year -- even if it loses hypothetical value -- wins.

In 2008, only five entrants finished in the black.

The winner gets $200 and a trip to either Chicago, Toronto, or Tampa, courtesy of contest co-sponsor Central Travel of Toledo. Second place gets $300, and third place gets $200.

Only 38 of the 727 portfolios were above break-even at the end of February, Mr. Anderson said.

Mr. Anderson said the market has taken such a battering in February that even normal investor safe havens suffered.

The Blade's business desk choices, selected at random before the contest began, are valued at $29,410, far back of the leaders.

The other contest leaders and their portfolio values are: Dave Kvale, Toledo, $43,986; Terence Gorski, Sylvania, $42,679; Libbi Robel, Temperance, $42,517; Jill Wesolowski, Milwaukee, Wis., $42,215; John Ritner, Toledo, $42,083; Sharon Klackle, Temperance, $41,645, and Allen Gutchess, Sylvania, $41,464.

Contact Larry P. Vellequette at: lvellequette@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.

-----

To see more of The Blade, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.toledoblade.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:EYE, NASDAQ-NMS:PCLN, NASDAQ-NMS:AAPL, NYSE:PH, NYSE:BPL, NYSE:BWP, NASDAQ-NMS:ATVI, LSE:ARM, Johannesburg:DRD, NYSE:AUY, NYSE:USU, NASDAQ-NMS:SSRI,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.