- Overall Top 10 Analysts for Stock Picking
- Overall Top 5 Analysts for Stock Picking Among Under-Covered Stock
- Overall Top 10 Analysts for Earnings Estimate Accuracy
- By Industry, the Top 3 Analysts for Stock Picking
- By Industry, the Top 3 Analysts for Earnings Estimate Accuracy
The Top 10 Stock Pickers in the United States
StarMine evaluates an analyst's performance by simulating portfolios based on the analyst's buy/sell/hold recommendations. Unlike other analyst award programs, StarMine's system makes it possible to fairly compare analysts across industries with disparate sets of stocks covered. Each analyst's score is calculated relative to the performance and dispersion of a benchmark derived from the analyst's particular coverage list. To earn a high score, the analyst must differentiate among his or her stocks well-the analyst can't get a high score simply by the luck of being assigned to a high-flying stock or industry. Many sell side firms, representing over 20 percent of publishing analysts, have adopted StarMine for internal use in analyst compensation plans.
Out of the nearly 3000 analysts evaluated, the following analysts received the highest overall stock picking scores in 2002:
| Rank | Analyst | Firm | Primary Industry |
| 1 | Pirsos, Nick | Sandler O'Neill | Insurance |
| 2 | Repetto, Richard H | Putnam Lovell | Diversified Financials |
| 3 | Labbe, Steven | Langen McAlenney | Insurance |
| 4 | Leach, William | Banc of America Securities | Food Products |
| 5 | Nisbet, Paul H | JSA Research, Inc. | Aerospace & Defense |
| 6 | Moore, Richard C | McDonald Investments | Real Estate |
| 7 | Green, Peyton N | FTN Financial Securities | Banks |
| 8 | Close, Richard C | SunTrust Robinson Humphrey | Commercial Services & Supplies |
| 9 | Meyer, Janice L | Credit Suisse First Boston | Hotels Restaurants & Leisure |
| 10 | Scialla, Michael S | A.G. Edwards & Sons | Oil & Gas |
The overall winner, Nick Pirsos, covers insurance stocks for Sandler O'Neill. While the stocks he followed were on average up 9 percent last year, Mr. Pirsos' portfolio (created by over-weighting his strong buys and buys and under-weighting his holds and sells) was up 34 percent, beating his personal coverage benchmark by a full 25 percentage points. A portfolio constructed only of the stocks that he rated a "Strong Buy" would have returned 48 percent. That includes U.S. Selective Insurance (NASDAQ: SIGI), which gained 42 percent during the periods he had a Strong Buy on it. Similarly, a portfolio of stocks he rated a "Sell" would have declined by 64 percent.
Overall Top 5 Analysts for Stock Picking Among Under-Covered Stocks
New this year, NASDAQ and StarMine created a special award for outstanding stock picking for analysts with the courage to recommend lesser-covered stocks. These analysts frequently stand alone or are among a very few to cover many of their stocks. The following analysts are recognized in this category:
| Analyst | Firm | Primary Industry |
| Didion, Steve | Hoefer & Arnett | Banks |
| Montano, Alexander G | C.K. Cooper & Company | Oil & Gas |
| Montano, Alexander G | FTN Financial Securities | Banks |
| Rogers, John B | D.A. Davidson | Construction & Engineering |
| Col, Douglas L | Morgan Keegan & Company | Road & Rail |
For example, Steve Didion was the only analyst covering either American River Holdings (NASDAQ: AMRB) or North Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ: NOVB) last year. Mr. Didion was bullish on American River all year and it was up 60% over the period. He also recommended North Valley all year, which closed up 36 percent.
The Top 10 Earnings Estimators in the United States
Ivy Zelman of C.S. First Boston achieved her number one ranking through consistently accurate earnings forecasts, earning the StarMine 5-star designation in the Household Durables industry and a number one ranking on many of her covered stocks.
The Top 5 Research Firms
The following firms have earned the highest number of awards in 2002, including awards for stock picking overall, earnings estimates overall, stock picking by industry, and earnings estimates by industry:
The number one firm, Morgan Stanley, did particularly well in stock picking this year, earning 18 awards in the industry categories. Lehman Brothers received the highest number of awards in the earnings estimate accuracy categories.
Rank
Analyst
Firm
Primary Industry
1
Zelman, Ivy
Credit Suisse First Boston
Household Durables
2
Simmons & Co
Research TeamSimmons & Company
Energy Equipment & Services
3
Casey, Andrew M
Prudential Securities
Machinery
4
Bradley, David
J.P. Morgan
Auto Components
5
Aydin, Jack N
McDonald Investments
Oil & Gas
6
Ostrower, Matthew
Morgan Stanley
Real Estate
7
Cheng, Paul Y
Lehman Brothers
Oil & Gas
8
Farley, Robin M
UBS Warburg
Hotels Restaurants & Leisure
9
Von Rumohr, Cai
SG Cowen
Aerospace & Defense
10
Armacost, Christin
SG Cowen
Communications Equipment
Rank
Firm
1
Morgan Stanley
2
Lehman Brothers
3
UBS Warburg
4
Credit Suisse First Boston
5
Prudential Securities
