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EBITDA...another buzzword ??
2007-02-27 21:45:02
I have heard this "EBITDA" buzzword thrown around a couple of times, and i had no freaking clue what it meant ? I shrugged it off thinking one of those trading terms i will never understand...Few days back i read it in some of the message boards and decided to have a look at it. Turns out its an acronym which means Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. Now that is pretty intuitive, isnt it ?EBITDA = Revenue - Expenses (excluding interest, tax, depreciation and amortization)EBITDA is used to analyze a company's operating profitability before non-operating expenses (interest and tax) and non-cash charges (depreciation and amortization).Pros of EBITDAEBITDA is useful to analyse the overall profits between companies you are comparing without taking accounting decisions into consideration. Now this can be useful to compare companies based on how to they operate and how much profits they end up making. Sometimes its useful to evaluate different sectors/industry,...
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Computers Will Act More Like Humans
2007-02-27 21:45:02
Speech recognition is the process of converting a speech signal to a sequence of words. Speech recognition applications that have emerged over the last years include voice dialing, call routing and simple data entry (like entering a credit card number). This is a very fascinating technology and a market with huge potential. However after decades of development, speech recognition applications still hasn't fully evolved. There is plenty of risk at stake.Importance of speech recognition:Early applications were termed big flop. However that is changing now. Comp uting time has reduced, the storage capacity has increased and become cost effective, and the technology itself has been refined. There is now a huge market for speech recognition applications, not to mention text-to-speech applications. Applications include, internet, cell phones, in-vehicle navigation and communication, consumer electronics and a list of computing devices.Additionally the chip size is getting smaller and smal...
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What happened today...
2007-02-27 21:45:02
What happened to the market today ??? Pretty disappointing day ??Question is why it happened ? For starters investors would love to see the interest rates go down. Businesses thrives more with lower interest rate, but Feds showed no sign of cutting interest rates any time soon to control inflation. This lead to a panic and sell market. Add to that the previous few days the stocks were up and it will time for the shorts to jump in. Unfortunately a strong job report didnt get the nod from investors either. However with dropping oil prices, consumer confidence grows and we will soon see an upward trend. The current interest rate stands at 5.25%. Who got hit bad ?? Tech stocks got hit the hardest. IBM, Intel, Dell, Oracle, Ebay, Motorola all down. Gold was down too, with trading around $606 an ounce. NYSE: Stocks going up v/s down was 24% v/s 74% NASDAQ: Stocks going up v/s down was 30% v/s 69% Positive note was that dollar improved over euros. Oil trading at 56.35$ All...
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Copper is down...
2007-02-27 21:45:02
I am not a big fan of copper and copper stocks but some of them are really worthy to own. But copper has had a rough rough ride. Copper prices reached their lowest level in 9 months thanks to resurgent dollar.The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is the world's largest commodity future exchange where commodities like Gold, silver and copper is traded. Copper was trading at 2.55$ to 2.66$ down 21%. This is really bad news for copper stock owners including me. Good news is that analyst expect the downslide to stop around 2.50$ where the market will stabilize.The problem with copper companies right now is that they have big stock pile with slowdown in demand. This surplus has become a problem. The bigger the stock pile gets along with increasing warehouse cost will only make the investors more nervous and drive the prices down.Rule of Thumb: A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated assets like copper more expensive for overseas investors. The euro was down nearly 0.6 percent at $...
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How did they perform !!
2007-02-27 21:45:02
So i recommended 13 stocks yesterday. How did they do ?BEAS +0.64 (5.21%), BECN +0.22 (1.18%), CELL +0.51 (3.77%),COGT +0.20 (1.83%), FLEX +0.14 (1.23%), DIVX +1.38 (6.30%),IDEV -0.17 (-2.45%), IRBT -0.12 (-0.67%), NEXT +0.03 (0.27%),SMOD -0.07 (-0.53%), STST +0.79 (3.70%), VPHM +0.17 (1.19%)ZQK +0.13 (0.84%)That adds up to net increase of 21.16%10 went up and 3 went do. Fair enough... Will give picks tonite for tomorrow.
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Oil goes down...
2007-02-27 21:45:02
Oil prices are sliding. It stands around 56$ per barrel. There are rumors it might fall below 50$ too if there are OPEC production cuts and declining crude supplies.So why did oil prices fall ?- Stable geopolitical scene- Slowing economic growth in the United States- Higher-than-normal temperatures that generated less demand for heating oil- Big drop in crude supplies (the drop was considered temporary due to thich fog around the ports)However energy experts suspect the slide is over, otherwise OPEC will be nervous. One will not see any rally in prices unless the demand for oil picks up. Next few weeks are going to be really interesting for oil prices.1. So which way does the dollar stride when the oil prices fall ?Up up up...Reason : Thats very simple, the cheaper the oil to import, less dollars go out. Using the simple demand/supply equation, the dollar becomes more valuable.Rule of thumb: Oil down = Dollar up2. When the dollar goes up what happens to Gold/Silver stocks ?Down down...
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BEAS looks attractive...
2007-02-27 21:45:02
So whats good about the stocks i picked.Let us start with BEAS first. The ticker stands for BEA Systems Inc. What does the company do ?There is alot of information you can find about it on the internet. To keep it simple it provides enterprise apps and service infrastructure software. The company offers BEA Tuxedo Product and WebLogic Platforms for mission-critical systems, automates their client processes such as supplier and distributor relationships. They have clients in vertical domains like telecom, commercial and investment banking, securities trading, government, manufacturing, retail, airlines, pharmaceuticals, package delivery, and insurance industries.The stock price is 12.28.EPS = 0.36P/E = 34.02Market Capital = 4.8 BillionAnalyst Recommendation = 2.6/5.0Earnings Growth this Quarter = 18.2%Earnings Growth next Quarter = 25.0%MACD is above the signal line which indicates it is a bull market.The EPS is positioned very well. P/E is a bit higher than i like, but definitely no...
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China: Pollution Emission Targets
2007-02-27 21:45:02
China is growing by leaps and bounds and so is India. Both countries are expected to have more than 8% GDP. It is a revolution in itself. That is the good story, but no one talks about the bad story. Both these countries have failed to meet with the pollution emission targets, especially China.Eric W. Orts, professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton, says that "Poll ution in China, if left unchecked, will drag down the country's economic growth and result in huge healthcare costs. In addition, China?s pollution will, over time, erode its competitive position in the global economy.?Lets go through some facts:I found some interesting facts about China thanks to financial analyst Himanshu PandyaAccording to the World Bank, 16 cities in the world with the worst air pollution are located in China.The country?s Ministry of Science and Technology has estimated that 50,000 newborn babies a year die from the effects of air pollution.China?s emissions of carbon dioxide, the mos...
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Is Ethanol a good buy...
2007-02-27 21:45:02
Before i dig deep into the details of Ethan ol , let us find out what exactly is Ethanol and why is everyone talking about it.Accordingly to Wikipedia, Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol and grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, mildly toxic chemical compound with a distinctive perfum-like odor. Ethanol can be found in alcoholic beverages. Ethanol can also be used as a motor fuel and fuel addictives. Additionally Ethanol creates very little pollution when burned. To keep it short, Ethanol can be used as an alternate source of energy/fuel, hmmm...interesting. Does that mean Ethanol companies are good buys ?? Is this a good time to invest in Ethanol companies ??Lets go through some facts:US farmers would face a real bad time without massive subsidies and trade protection from the government due to global competition. In a free global market, nobody would want US crops because they?re plain too expensive. Luckily, with the help of you and me (tax-payers), the US farm industry has b...
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Netflix v/s Blockbuster
2007-02-26 21:44:02
Last year Netflix NFLX has fallen 14%, while its arch rival Blockbuster BBI is up 67%. So what changed? Let us first understand what do they do and what are their business models.What does Blockbuster do ?Blockbuster is one of the largest movies and video games rental chain in the world. However they lost $1.6 billion in 2002, almost $1.0 billion in 2003, and $1.2 billion in 2004. In 2004, they introduced an online DVD rental service just like Netflix. Currently they have a collection of 65,000 titles and has about 2.2 million subscribers.What does Netflix do ?Netflix is the largest online DVD rental service, renting DVD's at a flat monthly rate depending on the plan. They have a collection of 70,000 titles and has about 5 million subscribers. Currently, Netflix spends about $300 million a year on postage to ship 1.4 million DVDs a day.What changed at Blockbuster ?Blockbuster launched its Total Access program in November '06, which enables subscribers to return movies rented onlin...
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Can Weak Dollar Make Money
2007-02-26 21:44:02
Can Weak Doll ar Make Money Yes it can. Deutsche Bank and PowerShares announced the listing of PowerShare DB U.S. Dollar Bullish UUP and the PowerShare U.S. Dollar Bearish UDN exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the American Stock Exchange. These ETFs offer investors access to the performance of the United States Dollar against global currencies.Rant: This is simply wow. Investors can make money not only in the strong dollar, but also in the weak one. However investing in foreign exchange related product is not for everyone. One needs to understand and monitor the national debt levels, trade deficits, changes in domestic and foreign interest rates, regional and foreign politics, economics and financial events.Wal-Mart soon to enter IndiaA potential joint-venture between Wal-Mart WMT and India's Bharti Retail is likely on the way. Multi-brand foreign retailers are only allowed to operate in India with a local joint-venture partner. Bharti plans to invest $2 to $2.5 billion by 2015 across...
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Google powers podcasting ads growth
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Google powers podcasting ads growthPod casting advertising revenues are expected to rise five folds in the next five years. That would mean marketers will spend $400 million dollars on podcasts in 2011, which would be only 2% of spending expected this year in the interactive ad market. Analysts expect Google GOOG to develop an audio version of AdSense which would allow any podcast producer to include ads in their shows.Rant: Audio ads can be sometimes really annoying for the podcast listeners. Google and podcast producers need to be cautious not to overwhelm the listeners with too much ads or it could turn against them.Bernanke's message to investorsFed Chairman Ben Bernanke recently relieved the investors by stating that he was upbeat about the economic growth and sees signs of slowing inflation and stabilizing housing sector.The labor market is a key area of concern: a low unemployment rate and difficulty finding qualified workers have resulted in higher wages, but he said increas...
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Does Google really love MySpace ?
2007-02-23 21:43:01
MySpace .com was founded in 2003 and bought in July 2005 by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. NWS. For those of you who do not know about MySpace, here is a quick introduction from Wikipedia.org MySpace.com is a social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos. MySpace also features an internal search engine and an internal email system. It is currently the third most popular website in the U.S. They crossed 100 million accounts in August 2006, with a news story claiming the site attracts new registrations at 230,000/day. Google -MySpace Deal 2006 This kind of website is definitely going to attract attention from the big boys like Google GOOG, Yahoo YHOO Microsoft MSFT and eBay EBAY. Google struck a $900 million advertising deal with MySpace 6 months back. Google wants to provide Google search tools on MySpace and run Google ads. This will benefit Google by allowing them to ...
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Yahoo and the Panama buzz !!
2007-02-23 21:43:01
The latest buzz around Yahoo YHOO is about their new Ad Ranking System called Panam a . Currently Yahoo places a paid ad solely based on the amount you are willing to pay for the keyword, whereas Google GOOG uses both price of the keyword and a quality score to rank the ad. Yahoo is looking to rectify this with Panama. Shareholders, employees and advertisers are for obvious reasons, praying that Panama works. Positive comments and publicity are all good, but unless the system helps generate more revenue it means nothing, especially to the investors.The company began to transition customers to Panama in mid-Q4, any revenue growth will likely come in Q1 at the earliest. The question to ask is whether this transition is going to have a positive or negative impact on their Q4 or Q1 revenue. If it is going to be negative, Google will gain on it. According to Wall Street Journal, some small Yahoo customers have had to cut back spending significantly during the transition. Some mid-size comp...
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Meet the Greatest Money Manager
2007-02-23 21:43:01
I am talking about Bill Miller, Legg Mason Fund Manager . He has topped the market 15 years running. Wow. That is some achievement.Also check out what Fortune had to say about him.
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Uranium Is Knocking At The Door
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Countries that rely only on oil as a source for their energy, will be in big trouble in few years time. The sooner these countries realise this and take action the better it is. The answer is alternative energy, be it Ethanol, Solar, Wind, Liquid Coal, Hydroelectricity, Geothermal or Ocean thermal energy.More about Alternative EnergyAlternative energy is still a big question mark in U.S. President Bush supports increase in ethanol usage. Unfortunately corn-based ethanol has its own problems. Corn-based ethanol could lead to shortage of corn food and high corn prices due to high demand. Hydroelectricity contributes a large percentage to the world energy. However environment concerns block new dam construction. Solar cells can presently convert 20% of the sunlight to electrical energy. If built out as solar collectors, 1 % of the land today used for crops and pasture could supply the world's total energy consumption. However solar energy has not gained widespread support for reasons ...
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Will Facebook Bite The Dust
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Facebook is a social networking website popular with teenagers. It is ranked 7th most visited site in U.S. with 2.3 million photos uploaded daily by the members. That sure is an amazing figure. Like MySpace, Facebook is a potential buyout target for the big guns. But surprizingly Facebook has rejected any offer thrown at them which also includes the offer from Yahoo YHOO for $900 million. Makes one wonder why are they being so silly ? Or maybe not. Let us dig deep. Facebook & Comcast DealFacebook announced a deal with Comcast CMCSA last week. As part of the deal, registered Facebook members can upload, share and rate the videos on Comcast's video-sharing web site called Ziddio. These videos will also be available on Comcast's ON DEMAND service. Few of the best videos will make it to the television series. This deal will increase the sign ups at Facebook and generate more traffic. For Comcast, the revenue will come from selling advertisements for videos and pay per view charges.Fac...
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Buzz Around The Town
2007-02-23 21:43:01
For a change i wanted to get hold of some interesting buzz going around the town. Here is what i found and by the way Happy Commercialized Valentine Day !! Low Oil Prices = Production CutSaudi Arabian Oil Minister said that if oil prices hold there will be no need for further production cuts when OPEC meets next. But neither would he be surprised to see a different situation than what he sees now. Saudi Arabia's current production stands at 8.5-8.6 million barrels/day. OPEC members supply about 40% of the world's oil. Saudi Arabia still plans to increase its capacity by end-2009, saying the world will need all the energy it can generate over the next 30 years, including alternative sources.Yahoo Mobile AppsYahoo YHOO is rolling out its mobile ad services in 18 international markets and has signed on major advertisers in doing so. The company also plans to offer several new features for its mobile applications including searches directly from Yahoo Maps and the ability to sha...
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The Best Time to Buy
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Find out when is the best time to buy....
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One Dollar Gold Coins: Best Investment Ever ?
2007-02-23 21:43:01
One dollar gold coinsU.S. government has decided to honor all the Presidents by issuing $1 gold coins. The United States Mint will mint and issue four presidential $1 coins per year. Every three months, a different president will be featured on the coin, starting with George Washington. After three months are up, the coins for that particular president will no longer be minted and the minting of the new presidential coin will be released.Rant: My only concern is that, this could lead to more scams. How about melting these gold coins to sell it for more than its worth ?Iran exports to sufferIran holds 11% of the world's oil reserves. Considering this fact, everyone would expect Iran's output to grow. However as of now, Iran's output is only 3.9 million barrels/day versus over 6 million barrels/day in the '70s. Iran is facing a natural output decline of 8-10% per year due to lack of investment. Oil sales of $47 billion in 2006 generated half its government's revenue, but lack of ...
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Is Emerging Market Craze Over ?
2007-02-23 21:43:01
For years, investors shunned emerging markets stock funds, which have historically been regarded as some of the riskiest investments around. Over the past decade, emerging markets stock funds have attracted just $4 billion a year on average, while domestic stock funds have pulled in more than $108 billion annuallyBut all that has changed in the past two years. Emerging markets stock funds have posted eye-popping gains of around 32% a year since 2005 and attracted investor interest, drawing in around $14 billion of new money annually. Last year, they took in more new money than domestic stock portfolios did.Investing Outside the U.S.Why you should put a portion of your portfolio in international stocks ? View this video...More on what analyst have to say about Global Emerging Mark et sAnd finally check out the 3 International Stock PicksRelated ArticlesIs Emerging Market Craze Over ?The Short View: Emerging MarketsThe Lure of Emerging Markets
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ETF: Something for those lazy investors !!
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Lets face it. Stocks is not for everyone. Alot of research has to be done before you indulge yourself into buying a stock. You need to go over the fundamental and the technical analysis. What is the EPS, P/E, PEG, Market Cap, Dividend, ROC, MACD...the list is end. Obviously you dont have to be a rocket scientist to buy stocks, but without the research it would be pure gambling. What if i told you, there is another option for those investors who would love to make some money in the stock market but at the same time do not want to spend time analyzing stocks ? If you are that person, Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may be right for you. ETFs also hold an advantage over mutual funds. Interesting isnt it. Read on...What Is an ETF? Think of an ETF as a mutual fund that trades like a stock thus experiencing price changes throughout the day as it is bought and sold. You can short sell them or buy them on margin as well. ETF tracks an index, a commodity or an index fund.ETFs offer diversificat...
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Stocks: Learn the A-Z about it
2007-02-23 21:43:01
I have been trading in stocks for a year now...i must say i have matured alot. but there are still alot of things i have no idea about. i made money and lost money, learned important lessons on the way...All you newbees to stocks, before buying a stock, one should try to analyse the stock.There are 2 basic analysis which can help one understand more about the stock.1. Fundamental Analysis2. Technical AnalysisWhat is fundamental analysis ?To understand a stock, you should understand the company fundamentals. One should try to answer the following questions. Answering these questions will open your mind to whether is it worth investing in the company stock. Company with solid profile, brand, business/revenue model is always a good buy.- What does the company do ?- What is the business model of the company ?- What sector does the company fall in ?- Is the sector hot in the current market trend ?- How efficient is the business model of the company in that sector ?- How good is the manag...
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Tax: Do You Really Get It
2007-02-23 21:43:01
I am sure alot of us don't understand and don't even want to understand taxes. However having a basic understanding of the subject will help save some extra money to buy that Playstation 3 you always wanted.For most of us, the taxes are paid on our behalf through our employers. Employers automatically withhold taxes from our gross earnings before giving us our net earnings. Your employer is also responsible for reporting your total income and taxes paid by submitting form W-2 to the IRS. You must then file your taxes-which tells you the total amount of taxes owed and the total amount of taxes already paid-and either pay the difference (if your automatic deductions were too small) or collect the difference (if your automatic deductions were too big).Throughout the year, there are important tips to follow in order to prepare for your taxes. First of all, get organized. Experts recommend: Use of personal finance software to enter and maintain accurate records. Keep records of exp...
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Bad News: Recent Tech stock slump....
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Barron's Associate Editor Michael Santoli discusses the continued tech stock slump and the impact of the cold weather in the East on the market.
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Beware: Outrageously high numbers...
2007-02-23 21:43:01
I had previously written about high dividend stocks. I would like to extend this post to include few more stocks that give outrageous yields. (As high as 45.80%). But wait....there is a catch.....!!! Royce Focus Trust, Inc. FUND operates as a diversified, closed-end investment company. The trust invests in the stocks and bonds in various sectors. They claim to pay dividend of $4.80/share and yield of outrageously high 45.80%. Is this kind of yield justified ? As per my research the last payment was made for $1.20/share, which multipled by 4 will give you 4.80$ which is right on track. Caution: Last four payments added up to only $1.57 which yields to only 14.5%. Do your own research to ensure that they will continue to pay $1.20/share every quarter and this is not a sham. Cal-Bay International, Inc. CBAY.OB invests in real-estate market. The company had interests in Utah, Nevada, Florida and California. They claim to pay dividend of $0.01/share and yield of outrageously high 41.7...
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Few interesting numbers...
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Stock market investors are always closely looking at the economics indicators to decide between buying or selling a stock. Yesterday the Feds decided to keep the interest rate at 5.25%. Had there been any change in the numbers, the stock market would have crashed, the obvious reason being that most of the company's earnings would go down if the interest rate increased. However that was not the case and Feds came out saying they wont increase the interest rate and the inflation is under control. This news resulted in a bull market. Lets look into some numbers which might give us some clue as to where the stock market is going.The U.S. economy surged forward with a surprising 3.5% growth rate in Q4 2006. GDP growth was 2% in Q3, and analyst had estimated 3% Q4 growth. That means the growth rate was more than anticipated. Good for stock market !!Consumer prices fell 0.8% in Q4 which makes it their first drop in 45 years.Disposable income was up 5.4%, and personal savings were up to -...
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Options: The Power Lies In Their Versatility
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Most investors invest in stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and bonds. How about adding another type of security called Opti ons to your portfolio ? If you are new to the world of options trading, read on...The power of options lies in their versatility. They give you the power the adjust your position according to the present situation. However just like any other security, options have their own set of problems. Options are complex securities and can be sometimes extremely risky. Option trading is therefore not for everyone.However before you decide not to trade in options, you should atleast understand them. Not learning how options function is as dangerous as jumping right in it.What is an OptionOption is nothing but a contract that gives the buyer the right to buy/sell an asset at a specific price on/before a certain date. So what is the big deal about that ? The big deal is that the buyer is not obliged to buy/sell. Now that sounds interesting....isnt it ?Investopedia gives an excellen...
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Watch and learn...
2007-02-23 21:43:01
Buying a house can be a painful process sometimes. Prices always go up is a myth. Do a thorough research before taking the big decision.Watch this clip to understand what interest-only loan is....
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Should we trust these analysts ?
2007-02-23 21:43:01
According to InvestopediaAnalyst s are typically employed by brokerage firms, investment advisors, or mutual funds. Analysts do the grunt work for brokers, preparing the research that brokers use. Analysts usually specialize in specific industries or sectors. I personally rely on analyst recommendations as one of the factors deciding buying or selling of stocks. Analysts are in a much better position to make a judgement about the stock than you and me. They go through alot of financial reports and indicators which passive investors dont even want to know. However one important question everyone should always always try to find out is Why ? Why are analysts giving buy or sell signals. Good analysts will always give you a satisfactory explanation and back their recommendation by giving you their sources.That said, what are analysts overall recommending in 2007 ?A research shows that the analysts are not too bullish in 2007. The overall buy recommendation as a percent of all recommendat...
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