Djane, I had a technical problem 5 min ago.
Thanks for the well articulated response. I hope I did not put you down with my comments about thestreet.com. I did not mean to.
I agree with you about Merrill Lynch analysts and other investment banks. However, these people should possibly undergo a more strict selection than any street.com guy (which reminds me of the Motley Fool).
I realize that no Merrill or DLJ analyst is truly free to say it clearly when things are bad. However, I like to put things in perspective and in several of these websites you can read reports 1 yr old. This is helpful to me.
Maybe Mr Cramer seems too emotional, but I like the Internet much better (being a cold medium) to the TV (hot medium) for investment decisions. Thestreet.com is on web and it may be better for small investors, but I would still take a DLJ analyst over any of these guys anytime.
DLJ has a strong buy (top pick) on UBB since May, the stock was 27, 33 , 36, the target was 49. The stock keeps going down, they continue the top pick rating. Now they may have downgraded it with the stock at 12.
However, their timing may be wrong, but they are likely following a good company.
So I bought UBB at a book value of 0.45.
I bought Mondavi at a pe of 11 after 4 analysts had downgraded it. Mondavi doubled from there. Some of these guys upgraded Mondavi on the way up. So they are most of the time helpful to me. Their timing may not be the best, but they usually are on a good company.
Although I trade online, I do rely on an excellent broker at JC Bradford, who reads First Boston and DLJ research. After I read First Boston and DLJ, I ask him what he thinks. I don't think we have a single trade where we lost money.
Another example: we bought Noble drilling at 13. If you read the DLJ targets, they are similar to Unibanco, however NE is a good company. We just have to be patient.
After this very long posting, I still believe any DLJ or First Boston or Merrill Lynch guy is more accountable than any thestreet.com or Motley Fool guy. They may be accountable to the investment bank division of their firm rather than to you and me, but we know that, and if you can read between the lines, you will be ok.
I could not find any better example than Smart Talk, which I always refused to buy when it went from 11 to 33 and then to 0. First Boston, DLj and the famous Grubman of Salomon all had it as strongest of the strongest buys. If you go to IPO central website, you will find that the three firms took public Smart Talk (SMTK).
And finally, are we so sure that these various webplaces are totally chaste and pure and do care about small investors?
ciao, Alfredo |
