Kelly narrowly beat Willie O'Reilly of Today FM and Property Developer Sean Dunne who made big trades on Brent Crude Oil in an effort to catch up.

They almost did catch up despite a relatively calm oil market. However, Kelly made the crucial decision to make a big trade on Apple yesterday afternoon which netted him the 15,000 profit necessary to secure first place.

Kelly recovered from last place in the competition just 2 weeks ago to finish with an account value of 254,000. To put this in perspective each trader began the competition with a notional 100,000 but at one point Kelly's account was as low as 30,000.

"I knew I needed an all or nothing trade to get me back into the competition but I didn't expect to pay off quite so well, " commented Kelly. His recovery stemmed from a large Google trade that went in his favour last week which gave him a shot at the 3,000 prize which Kelly is donating to Downes Syndrome Ireland.

Another close contender at the end was Michael Dwyer of Pigsback. com who gained 120,000 in just 3 days trading by taking enormous positions on the Dow Jones and Nikkei225 stock indices bringing him into fourth place overall in the competition. Gay Mitchell, TD and MEP, turned in a solid performance overall with his S&P and FTSE index trading finishing the competition in the middle of the table.

Tanya Airey of Sunway Travel staged a great recovery in the closing stages of the competition as the Australian Dollar recovered against the Greenback but it was too late to offer serious contention for the top spot. Our other currency trader, John O'Shea of GOAL, fared better overall finishing in fifth place on 137,000.

Our winner, Carmel Dunphy scoops the reader's prize of 5,000. Top of the league table two weeks in a row, she has consistently shown an appetite for risk, making some brave decisions which have paid dividends.

"In the end I put it all in to Sean Dunne but I thought I'd be piped at the post at the last minute, with the turn around in the Australian dollar, " said Dunphy.

Carmel's strategy was based on trader's personality and on risk. "You will never win a competition of this kind playing safe, " she said.

Do You Want to Trade for Real?

Delta Index is running a series of workshops for those who want to learn to trade for real. Workshops are being held next month in our offices on Lower Mount Street.

Call Delta Index on 185088-20-20 to book a place. ` Caveat Please note that this is a game and the amounts involved were notional and will not be paid out by The Sunday Tribune or Delta Index. By the same token you do not lose any money but are playing with nominal amounts. Any questions on the Celebrity Trading Challenge itself should NOT be directed to the Sunday Tribune but to Delta Index at (01)-6648500. The decision of Delta Index and The Editor of the Sunday Tribune is final.

Please note that this is a game and the amounts involved are notional and will not be paid out by The Sunday Tribune or Delta Index. By the same token you do not lose any money but are playing with nominal amounts.Any questions on the Celebrity Trading Challenge itself should NOT be directed to the Sunday Tribune but to Delta Index at (01)-664-8500.