CNBC's POWER LUNCH Kicks Off the 2018 CNBC Stock Draft

Today, Thursday, April 26th, CNBC's "Power Lunch" (M-F 1PM - 3PM) is kicking off the 2018 CNBC stock draft, in which eight teams will embark on a nine-month journey to win the title of "stock draft champion." It's a bottom-line battle royale featuring a field of superstars: TheBeardstown Ladies; Former NFL Player for Rams, Colts, Raiders and Falcons, Eric Dickerson; Founder of Skinnygirl Cocktails, BETHENNY Frankel; Founder of TradingAnalysis.com, Todd Gordon; O'Shares Investments Chairman, Kevin O'Leary; Former NFL Kicker for Patriots, Jets and Chiefs, Nick Lowery; Triogem Asset Management Managing Partner, Tim Seymour; and the Stevens Institute Investing Team.

With a field of hungry competitors, a repeat won't come easy for the reigning champ Mr. Wonderful. Will an NFL legend reclaim his magic, or will there be a Cinderella story? Who are this year's underdogs...or ducks? It's wide open!

In this journey to investing promised land, each team is allowed three investments from a pre-determined list of 60 stocks and commodities, spanning everything from tech heavyweights to bitcoin, and even some of the most beaten down names in the market. CNBC will then track the performance of each team's three investments until the Friday before the NFL Super Bowl. Who will come out on top?