Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Stanford: A commenter questions its analysts and institutional coverage

A commenter has just left a longish note on one of the IKN posts regarding Stanford. Usually I reject anonymous comments but let's make an exception this time as the writer has some interesting points. I'm also devoting this post to his/her words. Here's the comment below and following that you can find a paste of the companies covered by the Stanford analysts. Take a look and make your own informed decision.

Just as a personal extra, I warn all again to keep well clear of the Colombian Stock Exchange, as Stanford was the fourth largest player by volumes traded there in 2008.

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The Comment Recently Received by an Unknown Reader

Now that the SEC has filed charges, the next question people will want answered is where did all of the money go. There's been some investigation into Stanford's role in penny stock investing, but I haven't seen anyone take a look at the companies that their "analysts" were covering.

http://www.stanfordgroup.com/institutional/coverage.aspx

A quick glance at some of the companies listed on their website reveal a large number of microcap stocks who've exhibited pump and dump behavior include spam campaigns around the time that Stanford initiated coverage.

If you take a look at the background of some of their "analysts" it also raises questions about the character of their employees. Their media analyst Frederick Moran for example began his career at Drexel Burnam (a known chop shop), was previous accused of sharing inside information with his father while working as an analyst at Saloman brothers and participated personally in a failed microcap company (VDC Communications) that was owned by his father and his brother Clay (who also happens to work at Stanford Research). A closer look at some of the other analysts will raise similar concerns as well as even more questionable buy ratings on companies that most financial savvy investors would know to steer clear of.

If Stanford was using proceeds from the CDs to manipulate penny stocks, then this could end up being an important piece of the puzzle. It would also go a long way towards explaining how they could have given such poor investment advice on what appear to be obvious scams.

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COVERAGE

Coverage as of September 10, 2008

Sectors:

Clean Technology


Clean Technology


  • Calgon Carbon Corp.
  • Comverge, Inc
  • Covanta Holding Corp.
  • Emcore Corporation
  • Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.
  • EnerNOC, Inc
  • Evergreen Solar
  • First Solar
  • U.S. Geothermal Inc.
  • Itron Inc.
  • Ormat Technologies Inc.
  • SunPower Corporation
  • Synthesis Energy Systems

Water


  • American Water Works
  • Aqua America, Inc.
  • BioteQ Environmental

Energy


  • American Oil & Gas
  • Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
  • Apache Corporation
  • Arena Resources, Inc.
  • BG Group, Plc.
  • Callon Petroleum Co.
  • Cameron, Inc.
  • Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.
  • Denbury Resources, Inc.
  • Encore Acquisition Company
  • Encore Energy Partners
  • ENSCO International, Inc.
  • Fluor Corp.
  • FMC Technologies, Inc.
  • FX Energy
  • Genesis Energy, L.P.
  • Golar LNG Ltd.
  • Helix Energy Solutions
  • Mariner Energy
  • McMoRan Exploration Co.
  • National Oilwell Varco, Inc.
  • Noble Corporation
  • Oceaneering International, Inc.
  • Pioneer Natural Resources
  • Range Resources Corporation
  • St. Mary Land & Exploration
  • Toreador Resources Corp.
  • Transocean Inc.
  • Ultra Petroleum Corp.
  • Willbros Group Inc.
  • XTO Energy

Health Care


Biotechnology

  • Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • ArQule, Inc.
  • Cougar Biotechnology Inc.
  • Cubist Pharmaceuticals
  • Elan Corp.
  • Exelixis, Inc.
  • Genzyme Corp.
  • Human Genome Sciences
  • ImClone Systems, Inc.
  • Maxygen Inc.
  • Medivation
  • Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • Myriad Genetics
  • Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.
  • OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc.
  • Sepracor, Inc.
  • Telik, Inc.
  • Tercica, Inc.
  • Theravance, Inc.
  • United Therapeutics Corp.
  • Viro Pharma Inc.
  • ZymoGenetics

Health Care Services / Facilities

  • Alliance Imaging Inc.
  • Apria Healthcare Group
  • Community Health Systems
  • Da Vita, Inc.
  • Dialysis Corporation of America
  • Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co.
  • Health Management Associates
  • HealthSouth Corporation
  • LifePoint Hospitals
  • Lincare Holding, Inc.
  • Psychiatric Solutions Inc.
  • RadNet, Inc.
  • Tenet Healthcare Corporation
  • Universal Health Services

Medical Technology

  • Abbott Laboratories
  • Atricure Inc.
  • BioMimetic Therapeutics Inc.
  • Boston Scientific Corporation
  • Cytori Therapeutics, Inc.
  • Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Medtronic, Inc.
  • Micrus Endovascular Corp.
  • NeuroMetrix Inc.
  • Northstar Neuroscience Inc.
  • St. Jude Medical, Inc.
  • Volcano Corporation

Technology / Media / Telecom


Enterprise Software

  • BMC Software
  • CA, Inc.
  • Citrix Systems
  • Guidance Software
  • McAfee, Inc.
  • Microsoft Corporation
  • Pegasystems
  • Red Hat
  • Symantec Corp.
  • Wind River Systems

Homeland Security / Defense

  • Aero Vironment, Inc.
  • American Science & Engineering
  • Analogic Corporation
  • Ceradyne Inc.
  • Force Protection
  • iRobot
  • OSI Systems, Inc.

Identity Solutions

  • Cogent Systems
  • Digimarc
  • Intermec, Inc.
  • LaserCard
  • L-1 Identity Solutions
  • Zebra Technologies Corp.

Infrastructure Software

  • OPNET Technologies, Inc.

Internet Software & Services

  • Akamai Technologies, Inc.
  • Art Technology Group
  • Digital River, Inc.
  • Equinix, Inc.
  • Internap Network Services
  • J2 Global Communications, Inc.
  • Premiere Global Services, Inc.
  • SAVVIS, Inc.
  • Switch and Data Facilities
  • VeriSign

Semiconductors

  • Techwell, Inc.
  • Trident Microsystems Inc.

Media

  • CBS Corporation
  • Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.
  • Cox Radio, Inc.
  • Cumulus Media, Inc.
  • Emmis Communications Corp.
  • Entercom Communications Corp.
  • Lamar Advertising Company
  • Napster, Inc.
  • Priceline.com Inc.
  • Radio One, Inc.
  • Regent Communications, Inc.
  • Salem Communications
  • Sirius Satellite Radio
  • Time Warner Inc.
  • TiVo Inc.
  • Viacom B

Internet Media

  • Google, Inc.
  • Infospace, Inc.
  • Local.com
  • Marchex, Inc.
  • SourceForge, Inc.
  • The Knot, Inc.
  • ValueClick, Inc.
  • Yahoo!, Inc.

Telecom Services

  • Airspan Networks, Inc.
  • CenturyTel, Inc.
  • Clearwire Corp.
  • Consolidated Communications
  • Embarq Corp.
  • Frontier Communications
  • Iowa Telecomm Services, Inc.
  • Leap Wireless International, Inc.
  • MetroPCS Communications, Inc.
  • NII Holdings, Inc.
  • Sprint Nextel Corp.
  • Virgin Mobile USA
  • Windstream Corp.

Communications — Towers

  • American Tower Corp.
  • Crown Castle international Corp.
  • SBA Communications Corp.

Communication — Telecom

  • IDT Corp.
  • Vonage Holdings Corp.