Stephen Ryan's  Instablog

It is March Madness season, and I am feeling very competitive, however; an overbought market and debt ceiling drama have been trying to rain on my parade. The past two years, my group of friends and I, all of whom work in various segments of finance have had a march madness equity quick pick contest. The rules; pick five stocks on March 1st, provide a buy-side (includes shorts) thesis, and whoever is closest to 20% wins.

We had a serious competition last spring; I had Eqinix (EQIX) and Ventas (VNTR) which were great picks, but I was narrowed out by short sales on Ambassadors Group (EPAX) and Bank of Ireland (IRE). These guys are tough to compete with, especially some of the savvy tech guys, and financial short sellers. However, this year, we are starting the contest a little late, and I have two picks I would like to share.

8X8 (EGHT) and Cyrus One (CONE) are two of my picks as I approach the final days our selection period, I have a good feeling this year. We all have skin in the game, so this should be a feisty rematch. Feel free to provide input!

While I would like to pretend I am good enough to have plucked these two out of thin air, I have been watching 8X8 (EGHT) and Cyrus One (CONE) very closely this past winter. I waited for both companies to report, and, liked what I saw. I am confident both companies should experience significant appreciation this spring.