Re: JPM - "Douglas Cliggott, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s top investment strategist and a prominent Wall Street bear, will leave the bank at the end of the month to join Brummer & Partners, a Swedish asset-management firm and a J.P. Morgan client.
Mr. Cliggott is best known recently for his accurately bearish calls on the U.S. stock market, which has stumbled badly in recent years. At a time when most other Wall Street strategists say corporate profits are likely to recover in the first half of 2002 and then build momentum as the year progresses, Mr. Cliggott predicts the profit recovery will fizzle in the second half of the year. As a result, he said the Standard & Poor's 500 index will finish the year at 950, a loss from its current level of 1118.51.
Mr. Cliggott is the second prominent bearish strategist to step down. In November, Byron Wien announced he was leaving Morgan Stanley as its top strategist after 16 years, taking a role as an advisor to his replacement.
But J.P. Morgan, confirming Mr. Cliggott's resignation, said his decision to leave reflected a desire to spend more time with his family, including three children.
"My decision to leave J.P. Morgan was a personal one, but not an easy one," Mr. Cliggott said in a statement released by J.P. Morgan. Mr. Cliggott was not immediately available for comment, the bank said.
Mr. Cliggott will establish and head a New York research office for Brummer, based in Stockholm, with $2 billion under management. It will be that company's first presence in the U.S."- WSJ |
