Judy,
From my experience, accumulate means to buy when you think it's advantageous to you. In other words, buy on dips or when chart patterns indicate it's okay to get in. Buy usually means buy-it-now at the market or at a limit price at or near the market. Strong buy usually means buy at the market or use some margin and get in now.
Unfortunately, changing a rating from buy to accumulate is considered a downgrade, which, in a sense, it is. However, smart folks, IMO, see this, as Mohan has implied, as a way to add more shares, since weak hands will fold on the perceived downgrade, providing the opportunity.
I, too, believe that brokers sometimes will make such a downgrade to allow clients to add to their positions at lower prices, but that's just my cynical opinion. However, to be fair, some analysts issue such a rating when they believe that a stock is worth owning but that it is a little ahead of where they believe it should be at the moment but not several months down the road.
Regards,
-JimG |
