Orlando (cat)
Orlando is a cat that won a stock-picking contest organized in 2012 by the Observer. The cat's owner is Jill Insley, the head of the Consumer Team, which includes both the Guardian's Money section and the Observer's Cash section.[1][2] The contest pitted Orlando against a team of three financial experts and a group of students from The John Warner School, a secondary school in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England. In the contest, Orlando picked stocks by throwing his toy mouse onto a grid labeled with numbers, each of which corresponded to a different company.[3] Each of the three competitors started the contest with £5,000 (the equivalent of about US$8,000 at the time) to spend on stocks. They were given a year to maximise the value of their portfolio. Competitors were allowed to switch stocks once every 3 months.[4] During the year-long contest, Orlando's portfolio grew to $8,900 while the investors' team's portfolio grew only to $8,300.[5] The Observer ran an article about the contest.
References
- Hinds, Manuel (24 January 2013). "Orlando the cat has a better chance of beating the stock market than a hedge fund manager". Quartz.
- "Jill Insley". The Guardian.
- King, Mark (13 January 2013). "Investments: Orlando is the cat's whiskers of stock picking". The Observer.
- Locker, Melissa (15 January 2013). "Cat Beats Professional Wealth Managers at Picking Stocks". Time.
- Backman, Maurie (1 August 2016). "A Cat Outperformed Pro Stock-Pickers. Here's What That Means for Investors". The Motley Fool.