BUSINESS
November 15, 2011 | By Nathaniel Popper, Los Angeles Times
Stock analysts are not known for being a rebellious sort. Their jobs generally involve writing up dry technical reports on public companies. But Mike Mayo is not your typical stock analyst. Since joining the industry nearly 25 years ago, Mayo has shaken up the financial world with his bold and forthright analysis of the banks he researches. In 1999, he told investors to sell all bank stocks. In 2007, he was ahead of the pack in downgrading Bear Stearns Cos. and Citigroup Inc. Perhaps predictably, this hasn't earned him a lot of love, given that he has worked at banks himself and that his employers wanted to do business with many of the banks he was analyzing.
BUSINESS
January 12, 2006 | From Bloomberg News
Yahoo Inc. was downgraded Wednesday by Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Lauren Rich Fine because of the stock's recent gains and concern over competition from Google Inc. Fine lowered her rating on Yahoo shares to "neutral" from "buy" in a note to clients. Yahoo is losing market share in Internet search to Google and the run-up of Yahoo's stock price may limit further gains, she wrote.
BUSINESS
September 3, 2005 | From Dow Jones/ Associated Press
Gateway Inc. stock fell after Piper Jaffray cut its investment rating on the computer maker to "underperform." Shares of the Irvine company fell 29 cents to $2.73. In a research report, Piper Jaffray analyst Les Santiago said he cut his rating from "market perform" because his assessment of Gateway's turnaround had been "put into question." Santiago, who set a $1.
BUSINESS
June 10, 2004 | Denise Gellene, Times Staff Writer
Capping a week of losses, shares of Genentech Inc. plunged again Wednesday after an analyst downgraded the stock because of concerns about sales of a key drug. The company's stock fell $4.24, or 7.5%, to $52.30 on the New York Stock Exchange, after Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Geoffrey C. Porges lowered his rating on the shares to "market perform" from "out perform."
BUSINESS
April 7, 2004 | From Bloomberg News
Schwab Soundview analyst Jordan Rohan cut his rating on Yahoo Inc. to "neutral" from "outperform" out of concern that Yahoo Japan was overpriced. Trading at 87 times earnings, excluding certain costs, Yahoo Japan is the world's most expensive Web stock, Rohan said. Yahoo owns 34% of Yahoo Japan, and it could suffer if shares of the Japanese unit tumble, he said. Yahoo shares fell $1.22 to $48.77 on Nasdaq. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo reports first-quarter earnings today.
BUSINESS
March 2, 2004 | From Bloomberg News
SG Cowen Securities Corp. became the second investment research firm in a week to eliminate "buy" and "sell" ratings on individual stocks, saying the confusion associated with ratings outweighed the benefits. "Beginning March 1, we will abolish our rating system and communicate with our clients the old-fashioned way, using the full richness of the English language," Director of Research Barry Tarasoff wrote in a letter to clients released by the company Monday.