Stock Ratings That Won't Give You the Runaround

摘要

Investors looking for objective advice from Wall Street analysts might as well be searching for Big Foot or Jimmy Hoffa's body. As the bear market has made clear, analysts are often just puppets of their firm's investment banking arm. They almost never say sell on a stock lest they anger a client or potential client. Just consider this: With the economy on the brink of recession, only 1.5% of U. S. stocks have analyst "sell" ratings, according to First Call, a stock research firm. Nearly 65% are still "buys," and 34% are rated "hold."