The bull is back: last year's top picker thinks so, but others on our panel are skeptical.

• Author: Campbell, Spencer
• Position: FEATURE - Discussion

William Mitchell says it's "astounding" that he won last year's Business North Carolina stock-picking competition. He shouldn't be surprised, considering it's his second victory in three years, and given a few moments to reconsider, he rephrases: "Let's put it this way. It's comforting to know that I'm right." If he's right again this year, we will all be more comfortable--at least with the performance of our portfolios.

PANELISTS' PICKS FOR 2012 Company Ticker Headquarters Industry Mkt. Price on 11/25/11 Coca-Cola COKE Charlotte Soft drinks O $51.88 Bottling Co. Consolidated Cree Inc. CREE Durham Semiconductors O 23.85 Duke Energy DUK Charlotte Energy N 19.79 Corp. Family Dollar FDO Matthews Discount N 55.80 Stores Inc. stores Fresh Market TFM Greensboro Grocery stores O 36.49 Inc. Hatteras HTS Winston-Salem Real estate N 25.37 Financial Corp. Ingles Markets IMKTA Asheville Grocery stores O 14.18 Inc. Lowe's Cos. LOW Mooresville Hardware N 22.68 stores Nucor Corp. NUE Charlotte Steel N 35.57 Park Sterling PSTB Charlotte Financial O 3.47 Bank Inc. services Piedmont PNY Charlotte Energy N 29.92 Natural Gas Co. Polypore PPO Charlotte Filters N 50.27 International Inc. Company 52-week One-year range change * Coca-Cola $50.29-76.32 (11.1)% Bottling Co. Consolidated Cree Inc. 23.03-31.34 (59.1) Duke Energy 16.87-21.02 12.4 Corp. Family Dollar 41.31-60.53 14.3 Stores Inc. Fresh Market 30.86-46.85 8.9 Inc. Hatteras 22.33-31.98 (16.1) Financial Corp. Ingles Markets 13.96-20.45 (24.1) Inc. Lowe's Cos. 18.07-27.45 2.7 Nucor Corp. 29.82-49.24 (6.3) Park Sterling 3.15-6.30 (37.9) Bank Inc. Piedmont 25.86-33.60 2.0 Natural Gas Co. Polypore 31.01-74.21 53.4 International Inc. N: New York Stock Exchange O: Over the counter, Nasdaq *adjusted for splits and dividends LAST YEAR'S WINNERS AND LOSERS Panelist Average Return William Mitchell, Southeast Investments N.C. Inc. 17.1% John Woodard, Woodard & Company Asset 8.0 Management Group Inc. Bobby Edgerton, Capital Investment Counsel Inc. (3.4) Frank Jolley, Jolley Asset Management LLC (6.5) Jackson Kinney with a Magic 8 Ball (10.8) Larry Carroll, Carroll Financial Associates Inc. (13.7) Panel average (2.9) S&P 500 (3.4) Contest rules are simple. We ask a panel of pros to pick three stocks from BNC's Top 75 Public Companies, and the one with the highest average return wins. During the year that ended Nov. 25, Mitchell's 17.1% outshined the competition--four of whom posted negative returns, including our publisher's 8-year-old son wielding a Magic 8 Ball. Still, it was a far cry from the previous year, when Frank Jolley of Rocky Mount-based Jolley Asset Management LLC won with 30.8%, two others were over 20% and everyone was in the black. But Mitchell thinks another bull market has begun--it's just hiding behind...