First things first. No, the blog is not dead: I’m three weeks away from finishing my hosting duties for The Oprah Winfrey Network Canada’s “Million Dollar Neighbourhood”. I’ve also just submitted to my publisher a manuscript for a book I’ve been working on I also decided to co-organize a conference for 70 people two weekends ago. BUT, after filming wraps, I’ve got potentially nine months of vacation.

Perhaps I’ll read a book on time management.

In any case, after about a week of sleep after the show wraps, I’ll start blogging / podcasting / vlogging again.

And now back to our irregularly scheduled programming…

Welcome to the Q3 Update of the''Fourth Annual Personal Finance Bloggers' Stock Picking Contest.

Ironically, I've done fairly well over the first three years with performances of +56.14% in 2009, +26.56% in 2010, and a rather poor -17.04% in 2011. My hypothetical cumulative return would be +63.94% over the last three years, or an annualized rate of +17.91%. I suppose I should quit my day job and just trade my own portfolio, right? Don’t worry – I’m under no such illusions.

I'm the guy who doesn't take this seriously.

So far, my 'shoot from the hip' picks continue to fair well, relatively. I was leading the competition at the Q1 mark with a +35.91% return, but after a dismal Q2 the performance had dropped to +14.82% (although still tops), and now after Q3 I’m sitting at +21.99% (and still tops!). ''I don't know about you, but my gut reaction is that this may not bode well for the final year-end results. Call it the contrarian in me, or perhaps the “reversion-to-the-mean-ist” in me.

Here are my four picks for this year, the original rationale and a refresher of the rules for the competition. The overall rankings and links to the other competitors follows.

Top 2012 Stock Picks

The criteria is to pick four securities in equal dollar amounts listed on a Canadian or American exchange (not including derivatives) to just sit on for the duration of 2012 with no changes allowed. We are to provide updates every quarter and the contest ends on the last trading day of 2012. The initial prices will be based on the closing prices on December 30th, 2011. The final prices are based on the closing prices on the last trading day of 2012.

1. Starbucks @ $46.01 (NASDAQ:SBUX) ' I just had one so it's top of mind right now.''NOW: $50.71 plus three dividend payments, +11.32%

2. Apple @ $405.00 (NASDAQ:APPL) ' iPad 3, iPhone 5, and Apple might re-invent the TV this year. I also understand Steve Jobs and Tupac will release a collaborative album in 2012.''NOW: $667.10 + $2.65 dividend, +65.37%

3. Research in Motion @ $14.50 (NASDAQ:RIMM) ' Perhaps they got beaten up too much, perhaps they get bought out. Then again, perhaps they have further to fall.''NOW: $7.50, -48.28%

4. Bank of America @ $5.56 (NYSE:BAC) ' Bit of a contrarian play' and that's about as much thought I put into it.''NOW: $8.83 plus three dividend payments of $0.01 each, +59.35%

This Doesn't Sound Like You

Regular readers know that I don't normally talk about specific investments. For the first year's contest I initially hesitated since I was worried that some readers might take some of these picks to heart and actually buy them themselves as part of their investment portfolios. However, I decided to participate anyways deciding that I'll just disclaimer the heck out of it. To that end:

This Is Just For Funsies

THIS STOCK PICKING CONTEST IS JUST FOR FUN, IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN GAMBLING. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING THE STOCKS LISTED HERE OR ON ANY OF THE OTHER BLOGGERS' SITES WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING A PROFESSIONAL FINANCIAL ADVISOR. IF YOU BUY THEM ANYWAYS BASED ON THIS POST, YOU MUST RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND BEFORE PLACING THE ORDER AND REPEAT, 'I AM A NUTBAR'.

What The Other Guys Are Picking

Here is a list of links to the other participating members' performance:

WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com''+21.99%

Intelligent Speculator''+17.52%

My Traders Journal''+10.67%

Dividend Growth Investor''+10.39%

The Passive Income Earner''+5.34%

Dividend Mantra''+5.32%

Million Dollar Journey''+4.49%

Wild Investor''-2.21%

The Financial Blogger''-11.04%

Beating The Index''-13.77%