Winners of the TradingMarkets Up or Down Stock Contest come from all walk of life, and our October TradingMarkets Stock Picker of the Month, Kim Nash was no different.

Nash was a self-described "overly busy" personal trainer when the trading bug bit back in 1996. After years of hard work and not as much show for it as their should have been, Nash decided it was time to figure out a way to grow what little could be saved at the end of every month.

Spending between 30 minutes and two hours of research before making stock picks for the TradingMarkets Up or Down Stock Contest, Nash enjoys the fact that playing the contest has provided an opportunity to learn about stocks that otherwise might not have ever come to attention. Said Nash, "I look at how the stock's price has trended over the last 5 days, one month, six months and year. I read news articles and consider what's happened with that company in the last week - as well as whether they're about to report earnings, and how (the company's) competitors have fared in the last few days."

As the winner of our TradingMarkets Up or Down Stock Contest for October, Kim Nash will be awarded the monthly prize of $1,000. If you haven't registered to participate in the TradingMarkets Up or Down Stock Contest, click here for your chance to win $1,000 a month by correctly guessing the direction of a stock!

Until then, congratulations to current stock picking champ, Kim Nash, our TradingMarkets Up or Down Stock Contest Stock Picker of the Month for October!

With two weeks left in November's contest, who will be the one to take home the $1,000 prize? Click here to play the TradingMarkets Up or Down Stock Contest for free today!

David Penn is Editor in Chief at TradingMarkets.com.