Coverage Galore – Financial Analysts’ Ship Comes In

Not too many years ago one could count the numbers of financial analysts following shipping on the fingers of one hand. Jim Dowling, then at Furman Selz, Jim Winchester, pioneering the sector at Mabon Nugent, about whom BT Shipping’s Eddie Pollack once said “if I had one I’d use it on him.” Later Jim moved on to Lazard. And there was Sally Smith, at Brown Brothers. They were the best known three in the US. Then in the early 90s Sally Smith dropped shipping because there was not enough money to be made from following just shipping for her bank. Of course the performances of some from the “Class of 89″ did not help matters much.

Today, those three pioneers are followed by a veritable army of talented analysts spread around the world covering dozens and dozens of publicly traded shipping companies. If one had listened to them at the start of the new century it is safe to say one would have done very, very well. In fact if one had bought shares in the dry bulk basket recommended by Lazard’s new analyst and former Marine Money editor Urs Dür just last June, one would have seen a near doubling of that investment today.

So is all this newfound coverage the way of the future or simply a snapshot of a hot market? To do our part in support of the growing ranks of analysts and to frankly congratulate them for spreading the word we intend to single out some of the good performances and thoughtful contributions over the weeks and months ahead.

This is only an excerpt of Coverage Galore – Financial Analysts’ Ship Comes In

Content is restricted to subscribers. To continue reading please Log-In or view our subscription options.