Art, there is no use rating short selling analysts, as that is simply not done on Wall Street. Fred Hickey, "Short On Value," etc. have all made some good picks, but they are not mainstream.
First, let me clarify the numbers. Not all of these recommendations are measured honestly. In fact, most are not. Many are made after news comes out after the market is closed. This is an old trick that one newsletter firm, whose initials are VL, has used to fool the public into thinking they are brilliant. But there is no way you could have used the picks to achieve these numbers.
I use analysts to tell me about companies, not to pick stocks. In other words, what ticked me off about Kurlak for so long was not that he was a Micron bull, but that he got the facts wrong and his predictions were based upon this faulty data. If he has the facts right and can say buy with a straight face, more power to him. But if he had the facts right, I would still consider him a good analyst. I use information from many sources to pick stocks, and the analyst can be one of them. But I don't expect them to pick stocks for me.
That being said, I like the quality of info I get from Goldman analysts, in general. They still have some dopes, but mostly, they do their homework. If find the worst information flow is from the boutiques, such as Robbing and Steals Some, un-Soundview, etc. I usually also like Lehman analysts. Everen and AG Edwards are not really in the research game, they are in the stock picking game and I wouldn't trust their numbers.
I know this isn't what you wanted me to do, but it is how I use analysts, so I can't really look at them as stock pickers. Hope this makes sense.
MB |
