OT. Comment re recent posts: Analysts: As usual -g-, my opinion differs.
On SNDK being "relatively undiscovered" (by professional investors/analysts). I find this assumption to be ludicrous. SNDK has been written up in the NY Times and in Fortune. It's stock has often hit the new high lists. If anybody wanted to know about hot/popular/interesting tech stocks they might have seen Silicon Investor written up in Barron's, elsewhere. Glomming on to the to SI's hot subject list, the investor would've - like today, for example - come across SNDK. My opinion is any professional investor who wanted to or needed to discover SNDK, has.
On analysts being technical incompetents or illiterates. Brokerage firms have a ton of money that they spend on hiring analysts. The tech analysts in computer/tech, when I read their bio's, often have MS engineering degrees. Or undergrad engineering degrees from top schools. Just as biotech analysts have PhD or MD degrees. Analysts covering their respective industries may be incompetent, but they, imo, have to at least have the credentials to gain credibility and be able to talky-talk with the tech folk in the firms they follow.
Upgrades and downgrades are given for a number of reasons at various firms.
Imo, when one follows a particular analyst or relies on a particular firm one must have some helping hand to to assist in understanding the underlying compelling forces. That could be through a broker with whom one has a satisfactory relationship, or perhaps by knowing which analysts are the "axes" who influence the price of the stocks. I assume most of the analysts are, or will be chartered under the professional CFA program. Abiding by its codes. I further assume that SOME of these analysts - who of course will want to maintain on-going relationships with their followed companies - nevertheless have large egos and large reputations to protect. Therefore, their upgrade/downgrades or preferred stocks still should work for the investor who follows their opinion.
That's my opinion anyway.
Paul Senior |
