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

Cole, Benjamin Mark

  • 3.44 out of 5 stars
    9 ratings by Goodreads
 
9781576600832: The Pied Pipers of Wall Street: How Analysts Sell You Down the River
ISBN 10: 1576600831 ISBN 13: 9781576600832
Publisher: Bloomberg Pr, 2001

Synopsis

Explains why investors should not rely too heavily on the opinions of brokerage firm analysts, arguing that securities analysts often place the interests of the firm ahead of the interests of regular investors.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Benjamin Mark Cole has been a financial writer for 20 years. He has written for US News and World Report, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and the Los Angeles Business Journal, where he currently writes the "Wall Street West" column. He also is weekly national columnist on the securities industry for Bridge Information Systems and Knight-Ridder. In the 1980s, he helped launch the daily financial paper Investor's Daily (now Investor's Business Daily). He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, with a master's degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews

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 title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Bloomberg Pr
Publication date
2001
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1576600831
ISBN 13 
9781576600832
Edition number
1
Number of pages
240
Rating
  • 3.44 out of 5 stars
    9 ratings by Goodreads