i know watching cnbc is pretty worthless, but sometimes i have it on anyway. right now they're reporting that some analyst somewhere lowered his guidance on something. WHO GIVES A SH*T!!!?
Fortunately, Large institutional portfolio managers Give A Sh*t. By in large PM's and analysts are lemmings not the demigods they think they are. However, this inefficiency allows the astute trader to ride the wave of momentum straight to the bank.
They used to annoy me too. I had an internal argument going on. "If they upgrade something to a 'strong buy' why is it that when I follow their advice (on paper) that I would end up loosing money? They are either lying, or their advice is useless or even harmful, in which case, why are they advising me and about a million other people?!" The answer? It's their job. Somebody's paying them to do it (For whatever reason), and I suppose that's fine, but I really don't give a $hlT about what they have to say, because my job doesn't require me to listen to them.
Here's a related question: Some websites now track and publish the performance of analysts. Do you think this is having an impact on analysts -- that is, are these ratings leading analysts to strive for better performance? I doubted that many people, including the analysts and their employers, pay much attention to these ratings, but someone that I respect a lot (and who has a MUCH better view of market forces than I do) said that he thinks they are making a difference. Any thoughts?
I figure I have enough to do analyzing price and volume. No time to spend analyzing analysts. (That would be REALLY difficult)It's a road I don't want to go down.
I love watching the analysts. You guys are right, they are generally clueless. You have to keep in mind, it's all about the M&A and Investment Banking. The analysts are there to support that function. Aside from that, they are an excellent contrarian indicator. Last May, some clown was on CNBC pushing Chuck E Cheese (CEC) at $53. It had run from 20 in about a year straight up...the valuations were at an all time high. He was targeting $75 and carnival barking about "great execution and awesome upside potential." I went short. A week later they warned and 6 weeks later they warned again. I covered at $35. You should learn to love the analysts. They can make you a lot of money!!!