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 Guardians Money section and the Observers Cash section. 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. Each of the three competitors started the contest with £5,000 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. During the year-long contest, Orlando's portfolio grew to $8,900 while the investors' team's portfolio grew only to $8,300. The Observer ran an article about the contest.