"Things Change"
nytimes.com
As Tech Stocks Fall, Some Analysts Still Optimistic
By SAUL HANSELL
As technology stocks advanced in the last few years, so did Henry Blodget. A
35-year-old with wavy blond hair whose optimism shone as strong as the market's, he transformed
himself from aspiring journalist into one of Wall Street's best-known analysts and a fixture on CNBC,
his pay rising into the millions.
Today, the market is bloodied, but not Mr. Blodget. His top recommendations are down 79
percent, on average, from the beginning of last year, with several trading for less than $1. But Mr.
Blodget, the senior Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch, the nation's largest brokerage, keeps his chin up.
"Things change," he said last week, furrowing his brow after every few words. "The market went from
saying, `We like companies that are growing quickly but are losing a lot of money' to saying, `We
want to see earnings.' It's very hard to predict a 180-degree turn like that."
Not that Mr. Blodget's picks, often delivered with caveats, were demonstrably worse than those of
some other Internet analysts. Last August, in fact, he started to turn somewhat more cautious.
But the story of how Mr. Blodget and others like him encouraged investors to bid stocks up to levels
he now admits were unjustifiable goes a long way toward explaining why the market for technology
stocks has since crashed
............
But last week, Amazon.com hit a two-year low of $9.56 — within a dollar, adjusting for splits, of where Mr.
Cohen, Mr. Blodget's predecessor, said it would land ($50).
"I wouldn't say I'm vindicated," Mr. Cohen said. "But I'm amused." |
