Field consolidates as race enters the halfway stage

Stockbroker Mr Andrew Nixon, who headed the leaderboard after Week Two, has made it back to the top of the pile as we approach the halfway stage, swapping places with last week's leader. But although Mr William Kingston has been ousted from the top spot, the Kingston family remain serious contenders with William and his son Christopher continuing to account for six of the top 50 portfolios.

Indeed, the leaderboard has been consolidating rapidly of late with just 10 competitors running 34 of the top 50 portfolios while Tipperary doctor Mr Edward Staunton currently accounts for nearly a third of these.

However, contestants should not despair. Mr Tony Bourke, Mr Aonghus Fitzgibbon and Mr Gordon Coghlan are among the new names making their first appearance on the leaderboard this week.

Further consolation is available from the fact that the weekly prize of £1,000 in cash plus a year's free share dealing with AIB goes to Mr Patrick Aylward whose portfolio is lagging behind in 8,444th position overall.

Mr Aylward, who lives in Dublin, works as a fund administrator with Citibank. He says this is the first time he has entered a fantasy share competition and he only registered one portfolio. Deutsche Telekom - one of the top performing shares last week with a rise of 7.4 per cent - helped him to weekly honours by contributing to the 22 per cent gain in his portfolio last week. He also plumped for Glaxo Wellcome and Smithkline Beecham which made modest gains in a week when share prices generally lost ground.

Meanwhile, those who would really be losing their shirts if this were not a fantasy competition, can still qualify for a Sharetrack 100 polo shirt if they write to us at Sharetrack 100, The Irish Times, 11/15 D'Olier St, Dublin 2, telling us their experience of the competition to date.

Polo shirts are on their way to a number of deserving letter-writers including Ms Lili Roth who informs us that she is a poor Business and Legal Studies student at UCD and desperately in need of a Sharetrack shirt. Lili, who is lying in 4221st place overall, sought advice on the composition of her portfolio from her father who she tells us "is sometimes a bull, sometimes a bear but always a bum steer". Hard luck, Lili.

Two other polo shirts are on their way to Wexford to Ms Rosemary Byrne and Ms Betty O'Brien, who are occupying 3876th and 5978th place respectively. Both beginners, they took a hit on Tullow Oil so we're answering Betty's prayers to St Anthony by sending her a shirt as consolation.