CNBC has been pumping up its online “Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge” for the past several months. BusinessWeek notes that the gambit paid off for CNBC.com – with site traffic tripling over the course of the game. But, there’s a hiccup: BusinessWeek says a flaw allowed contestants to start the process of making a trade before the 4 p.m. ET trading day ended (companies reporting after hours earnings were top targets). A player could leave that browser window open – and see if the stock took off in after hours action. If it did, a contestant could execute the trade at the 4 p.m. close price. CNBC has promised to launch an “aggressive investigation,” and hasn’t yet announced a winner. As the name of the game implies, a million bucks are on the line.
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