To put a buy reco out the day before earnings is IMHO a clear fade recommendation to me and/or a pure gamble play -- regardless if it's Meredith or Cramer making the call. Not that I'm doing anything with GS either way, I'm just saying..... Edit: Cramer just said she'd been bullish too long on GS and wonders if Roubini is next to turn bullish. HAH!
Nearly all analyst calls are bulls---t IMHO. I wonder if anyone's done an analysis of fading such calls. IIRC didn't GS raise their forecast on oil from 145 to 200 last summer like a week before it reversed hard? If I was to act on her 'advice' (which I'm not) I would interpret it as "we're bullish on GS long term but would recommend waiting for a pullback in the current market environment before jumping in." Of course, many retailers out there will see the CNBC or Bloomberg or NYTimes article about her comments and run out to buy GS just as the market stands on the brink of another pullback.....then they panic, sell on the way down, and get more pissed at "the Street" when in reality it's themselves who they should be pissed at for not doing their homework. Speaking of research, I find it interesting (but not surprising) that 'research' at my one full service broker has a BUY rating on XYZ in its 'research' for individual investors yet a SELL rating on XYZ in its 'research' for institutional investors. (And no, XYZ is not GS)
Merrill Lynch upgrades Goldman to buy, sets $175 target NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Analysts at Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to buy from neutral Thursday, saying strong trading and investment banking revenues, along with gains in principal investing should eventually carry the firm to a new price target of $175 a share. In total, the analysts increased their second quarter earnings estimate for Goldman /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 147.25, +5.38, +3.79%) , which is slated to announce results on July 14, from $3.90 from $2.92 a share. Analysts polled by Thompson Reuters, on average, expect the investment bank to report net income of $3.42 a share for the previous quarter. "We view Goldman as the best-diversified, most global franchise in the industry, with ample international growth prospects," the analysts wrote. Further, full year 2009 and 2010 earnings were raised to $16.30 from $14.06 a share, and to $19.78 from $17.63 a share, respectively, according to the report. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-to-rise-26-should-beat-2q-estimates-ml
She sure did spark one heck of a little pre market rally in the big 5 (GS, BAC, WFC, JPM, MS)...Not to mention the FAS and UYG running on her every word... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64553&perpage=6&pagenumber=141 $COSTAverageMAN
MWAG ♥ GS July 13 (Bloomberg) â Meredith Whitney, founder of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC, upgraded Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to âbuyâ from âneutral,â her first such rating on a U.S. bank since she started the firm. Whitney has a $186 price target on New York-based Goldman Sachs, the analyst said in a note to clients today. The stock, which has gained 68 percent this year, closed last week at $141.87 in New Stock Exchange trading. Whitney, who left Oppenheimer & Co. earlier this year to create her own firm, correctly predicted in 2007 that Citigroup would cut its dividend. At the time, her call triggered the steepest drop in Citigroup shares since September 2002. Goldman Sachs may post the largest profit since it set earnings records in 2007 when it reports earnings on July 14. The company will probably say it earned $2.2 billion, or $3.57 a share, in the three months through June, according to the average estimate of 25 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The bank, which has shed government-imposed restrictions on employee compensation by repaying $10 billion to the U.S. Treasury, has ratcheted up trading gains and reaped more fees from stock and bond sales, according to Barclays Capital analyst Roger Freeman. Goldman may beat its 2007 trading-revenue record after rivals including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. collapsed, lessening competition, Bank of America analyst Guy Moszkowski said July 9. Presumably, there is a client copy of this note out there - the above is the press version in case you hadnât guessed. If anyone sees it, could they please get in touch; alphaville@ft.com. Thanks in advance. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/07/13/61636/mwag-gs/
She upgrades it now at $142 a share? HMMMMM.... After the stock runs up over 120% she decides its time for an upgrade. These so called analysts are idiots, this stock has more downside than upside at this moment. Anyway its going to be interesting to see GS earnings report, many, many, many people think they are going to blow away expectations, that's what they need to do in order to support a triple digit stock price.