Do You Listen to Securities Analysts?

                    

It’s difficult to know what is going on in any public business. Even insiders in a corporation don’t know how outside events will affect their business. So why should investors bother to buy individual securities after a so-called analysis?

                       

Furthermore, starting several years ago, about one quarter of securities research departments announced they were dropping coverage of small-cap stocks, while about one sixth no longer covered mid-cap stocks. A large percentage of large cap stocks are no longer reviewed because less analysts were employed.

                       

This backs up my position that it doesn't pay for an investor to consider evaluated securities. Whether they are professionally analyzed or not.

                       

An investor’s best bet is to use low-cost mutual funds or ETFs, matched to indexes. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinesNewshole at Twitter.)