Girl, 5, beats analyst in FTSE challenge

A five-year-old girl has beaten a financial analyst and an astrologer in an experiment to find the most accurate stock market predictions over a year.

Tia Lavern Roberts not only outperformed her fellow participants in the National Science Week challenge but even defied a 16 per cent drop in the FTSE 100 with her randomly selected shares.

Her "fantasy £5000 portfolio" rose 5.8 per cent while the one put together by analyst Mark Goodson lost 46.2 per cent over the year. Astrologer Christeen Skinner's portfolio dropped 6.2.

Ms Skinner used the movement of the planets, while Mr Goodson used his years of expertise and computer analysis.

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from the University of Hertfordshire who devised the experiment, said: "It's amazing to see Tia's portfolio is still doing well." Mr Goodson said: "I'm not surprised Tia is still out in front after a year. Short-term investing is little more than gambling."

Henk Potts from Barclays Stockbrokers who analysed the portfolios, said: "Tia would be a welcome addition to the City - schoolwork permitting, of course."

Tia thought it was "wicked " that she'd beaten the market again. Her tips for this year's investors: Cadbury Schweppes, Northern Rock, Prudential, Pearson and Shell Transport.