The Pied Pipers of Wall Street: How Analysts Sell You Down the River - Hardcover

Cole, Benjamin Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1576600831 ISBN 13: 9781576600832

Publisher: Bloomberg Pr, 2001

Synopsis

Today's market watchers have increasingly come to rely on the opinions of brokerage firm analysts. But in this startling and revealing new book, Benjamin Cole explains why relying too heavily on what they say often isn't the best course of action. He demonstrates the economics of the brokerage business and shows why and how securities analysts frequently put the interests of the firm ahead of the interests of regular investors.

Many seasoned investors are already leery of the impersonal giants of the Wall Street brokerage business; they're looking for unbiased guidance and trustworthy sources of information for investment decisions. This book gives the reader solid guidance on separating reliable information from salesmanship. Cole offers a riveting, eye-opening view of the workings of Wall Street, challenges the supposed objectivity of analysts, and concludes by providing balanced, objective information sources the investor can turn to with confidence. To illustrate his points, the author traces the motivation and histories of specific analysts who have harmed or helped investors, with significant moves in the market following key pronouncements.

Carefully researched, documented, and constructed, this book is a fascinating expose of compromise and the unwritten agendas just below the surface of brokerage and underwriting businesses.

About this title

About the Author

BENJAMIN MARK COLE has been a financial journalist for more than twenty years. He has written for numerous publications and helped launch Investor's Business Daily. For the Los Angeles Business Journal he currently writes the "Wall Street West" column. He is the author of award-winning The Pied Pipers of Wall Street: How Analysis Sell You Down the River.

From Library Journal

Books like Mark Dempsey's Tricks of the Trade (LJ 1/98) have exposed the ways of brokers. In this new cautionary work, financial writer Cole focuses his attention on financial analysts, who are supposed to evaluate objectively the investment potential of securities. Cole contends that in the best of times analysts were never very successful in making predictions, but in recent years they have become shills for their investment banking departments. He further points out that the 1975 deregulation and consequential reduction of brokerage fees forced brokerages to make most of their money through investment banking. Analysts, while theoretically giving independent opinions, in reality now exist to help their firms' client companies to sell new stock and support their stock prices. Cole argues that this has led to almost incessant optimism among most analysts. His book is easily read, and his points would be useful for all investors to consider. Recommended for all public libraries and to academic libraries where there is interest. Lawrence R. Maxted, Gannon Univ., Erie, PA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomberg Pr
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1576600831
• ISBN 13: 9781576600832
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240