Learn Beat the Street Tips, Increase Your Shot At $5,000!

As we near the final trading day for Week 2 of TheStreet.com's Beat the Street contest, here are some trends that may help you prepare for the start of Week 3. The following information could help you win $5,000, so read on!

This week 5,890 contestants participated in the game, and they were a decidedly bullish group in making their 31,013 stock picks: 22,647 buys were made, as opposed to 8,366 short sales. (A short sale is essentially a bearish move, because you are anticipating that a stock's price will go down.)

So what were the most popular tickers?

General Electric (GE) was the most popular stock, as contestants sought to take advantage of the volatility in this bellwether that shocked Wall Street with a cent miss last Friday.

Not surprisingly, Apple (AAPL)also landed on the list as the iPod maker is always a trading favorite.

Google (GOOG), another popular stock, reports earnings after the close Thursday, and that name is never a shocker to see in a most popular list.

Two financials -- Washington Mutual (WM) and Citigroup (C)-- rounded out the list, as that sector remains in the news.

Be sure to sign up for Week 3 after the market closes tomorrow. For more advice on the game check out what Jim Cramer has to say about strategy. Good luck from MainStreet!