On three consecutive days early in the finals, she picked CommVault Systems, a provider of data management services; Ctrip.com, a travel-services firm; and Focus Media Holding, which runs an advertising network in China. Each saw solid gains, propelling her into second place -- albeit briefly. A string of less-fortuitous picks then dropped her in the standings.

Not yet a survivor
If she were to win the $1 million, Williams says she would spend much of it paying for her daughters' education. The older of her two girls, Jenni, is studying nursing at Kent State University in Ravenna, Ohio, and has at least three more years to go until graduation. Sarah, 13, starts high school in the fall and hopes to someday work with animals, Williams says.

There's no guarantee that Williams will win the contest's grand prize, of course. CNBC, which announced June 15 that it had hired Stanley Sporkin, a former Securities & Exchange enforcement chief and federal judge, as well as computer firms Symantec and Neohapsis to investigate allegations of wrongdoing, has said it aims to announce a winner by July 8. But CNBC won't rush its probe to meet that deadline. If one or more of the contestants ahead of her in the final standings are cleared, Williams will remain a runner-up -- and there is no cash prize for anyone but the top finisher.

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Whatever happens in the contest, Williams doesn't feel she's particularly lucky. She has applied to appear on the hit CBS reality show Survivor three times and hasn't made the cut yet. If she does win, she certainly won't invest the money, at least not the way she did in the contest. It's far too risky. "There's no way I could have done this if the million dollars were mine," she says.

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