Pithaly

At first glance, you say "She cannot be a Wall street analyst!". She is, and a good one at that.

This is what she has to say today (17th March 2008):

"The problems at Bear Stearns may be unique, but U.S. financial stocks nonetheless have further downside of as much as 50%, according to Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney."

“On the basis of book value, most banks do not appear expensive as they trade near price to book multiples of the 1990-1991 credit cycle,” she said in a note. “However on the basis of tangible book value, banks look expensive and are trading well above tangible book value.”

"Merrill Lynch, UBS and Citigroup will be the worst hit. Lehman brothers shares are already down 30 per cent in pre-opening trading."

Ms Whitney, Forbes’s second-highest-ranked stock picker for 2007, set off the biggest stock market decline in the US since August with a note on Citigroup.

The analyst who downgraded Citigroup, which led to a broad stock market sell-off in November, said she had received several death threats, the Times of London reported Saturday.

"Clients are not pleased with my call and I have had several death threats," she added. "But it was the most straightforward call I've made in my career and I am surprised my peer analysts have been resistant. It's so straightforward, it's indisputable."