Finance
TipRanks reveals the top 10 financial sector analysts of the past decade
A screen displays the trading information for Morgan Stanley on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), January 19, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The financial sector witnessed a rapid transformation over the past decade, with technology reshaping the processes of lending, wealth management and payments.
The transformation also brought opportunities to invest. TipRanks recognizes Wall Street’s 10 best financial sector analysts for capturing the best investment opportunities. These analysts outperformed in their stock picking and earned significant returns from their recommendations.
TipRanks has used its Experts Center tool to identify the top 10 analysts who have a high success rate. To create this list, TipRanks analyzed every recommendation made by financial sector analysts in the past decade.
The ranking reflects the analysts’ ability to generate returns from their stock recommendations and price targets. TipRanks’ algorithms calculated the average return, statistical significance of each rating, and the analysts’ overall success rate. Further, each rating was measured over one year.
Top 10 analysts from the financial sector
The image shows the most successful Wall Street analysts from the financial sector, in descending order.
1. Moshe Orenbuch – Credit Suisse
Moshe Orenbuch tops the list. Orenbuch has an overall success rate of 65%. His best rating has been on the financial services company Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY). His buy call on ALLY stock from April 17, 2020, to April 17, 2021, generated a return of 220%.
2. Mark Rothschild – Canaccord Genuity
Mark Rothschild is second on this list and has a success rate of 72%. Rothschild’s top recommendation has been on a Canadian real estate investment firm, Dream Unlimited (TSE:DRM). The analyst generated a profit of 108% through his buy recommendation on Dream Unlimited from Feb. 24, 2021, to Feb. 24, 2022.
3. Bill Carcache – Wolfe Research
Wolfe Research analyst Bill Carcache ranks No. 3 on TipRanks’ top 10 financial analysts list. Carcache has a success rate of 71%. His best recommendation has been on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS), a digital banking and payment services provider and credit card issuer. The analyst generated a return of 287% through a buy recommendation on DFS from March 20, 2020, to March 20, 2021.
4. Steve Manaker – Stifel Nicolaus
Steve Manaker bags the fourth spot on this list. The five-star analyst has a 71% overall success rate. Manaker’s best recommendation has been on Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR), a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the regulated cannabis industry. His buy call on IIPR stock generated a 250% return from June 26, 2018, to June 26, 2019.
5. Bose George – KBW
Fifth-place analyst Bose George has a success rate of 71%. His best recommendation has been Mr. Cooper Group (NASDAQ:COOP), a leading home loan servicer and originator. The analyst delivered a profit of 179% from July 7, 2020, to July 7, 2021.
6. Gerard Cassidy – RBC Capital
Taking the sixth position is Gerard Cassidy. The analyst has a success rate of 58%. His top recommendation was Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), a Cincinnati-based regional bank. Through his buy call on FITB stock, Cassidy generated a return of 139% from April 8, 2020, to April 8, 2021.
7. Susan Roth Katzke – Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse analyst Susan Roth Katzke is seventh on this list, with a success rate of 67%. Katzke’s best call has been a buy on the shares of the investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). The recommendation generated a return of 138% from May 6, 2020, to May 6, 2021.
8. Mark Dwelle – RBC Capital
In the eighth position is Mark Dwelle of RBC. Dwelle has an overall success rate of 64%. His top recommendation is insurance company Goosehead Insurance (NASDAQ:GSHD). Based on his buy call on GSHD, he generated a profit of 210% from March 13, 2020, to March 13, 2021.
9. Ken Usdin – Jefferies
Ken Usdin ranks ninth on the list. The five-star analyst sports a 62% success rate. His top recommendation has been on Pennsylvania regional bank Customers Bancorp (NYSE:CUBI). The buy recommendation generated a return of 246% from Jan. 7, 2021, to Jan 7, 2022.
10. Robert Dodd – Raymond James
Robert Dodd has the 10th spot on the list, with a success rate of 69%. Dodd’s best call has been a buy on the shares of WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ:WHF), a business development company that offers loans to privately-held lower-middle-market corporations. The recommendation generated a return of 150% from April 13, 2020, to April 13, 2021.
Bottom Line
Retail investors could follow the ratings of these top financial analysts to make informed investment decisions. These analysts generated significant returns from their recommendations in the past decade.
You can also look at all the analysts who feature in the top 100 list. We will soon return with the top 10 analysts of the past 10 years from the healthcare sector.
Finance
Addressing Climate Challenges: The Role of Research in Climate Finance
Threatening ecosystems, public health, and economic stability, climate change remains one of the biggest worldwide issues of the twenty-first century. Among the major hazards the United States faces are changing sea levels, more violent storms, and disturbances in food output. Managing these risks and enabling the shift to a low-carbon economy depend on targeted investments in mitigating, adapting, and resilient building—that is, climate finance. The economic effects of climate change on the United States are discussed in this paper together with a discussion of significant policy proposals and an emphasis on ongoing research and innovation in climate finance.
The Economic Consequences of Climate Change in the U.S.
Extreme weather events now occur far more frequently and with far higher intensity, resulting in significant financial losses. Rising sea surface temperatures helped Hurricane Harvey cause before unheard-of flooding in Houston in 2017. One of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history, the damages topped $125 billion (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.). Likewise, California’s ongoing droughts brought on by rising temperatures and less precipitation have stoked terrible wildfires that have destroyed infrastructure and displaced whole populations.
Without major adaptation strategies, yearly damages from hurricanes and coastal floods might reach $500 billion by 2025, according to a 2023 analysis in Nature Climate Change. This emphasizes how urgently studies on financial instruments meant to help reduce economic losses—such as insurance products and climate bonds—should be conducted.
Especially in places like California and the Midwest, climate change has upset established farming cycles. Extended droughts and severe storms have lowered crop harvests and raised manufacturing prices. For instance, the strong windstorm known as the 2020 Midwest derecho damaged about $11 billion worth of crops, including corn and soybeans (U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA). Food security and affordability will remain at risk without focused investments in climate-resilient agriculture including enhanced irrigation infrastructure and drought-resistant crops.
Rising temperatures both directly and indirectly endanger health. Particularly among susceptible groups like the elderly and those from low-income areas, heat waves raise the frequency of heat-related diseases. Furthermore, moving to new areas as warming increases the habitat of disease-carrying insects are vector-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus. A report from The Lancet Planetary Health claims that tackling these increasing health hazards calls for coordinated plans combining public health preparedness and investments in green infrastructure meant to lower urban heat island effects.
Policy and Financial Mechanisms in Climate Action
To lower greenhouse gas emissions and advance climate resilience, the United States has instituted many historic laws. Allocating $369 billion to renewable energy and environmental projects, the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) marks the highest federal investment in climate change. Important clauses cover tax incentives for electric cars (EVs), renewable energy generation, and energy-efficient building improvements (Congressional Research Service, CRS). The Act seeks to hasten the acceptance of sustainable technologies by providing private sector innovation financial incentives.
The Biden government also rejoined the Paris Agreement, pledging a 50–52% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Investments in climate adaptation, clean energy infrastructure, and carbon sequestration technologies have top priority among federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
Advancement of climate action has been much aided by state and municipal governments. To cut carbon emissions and set a target of 100% renewable energy by 2045, California has instituted a cap-and-trade program aiming at growing the infrastructure supporting renewable energy, New York has started bold clean energy initiatives. Urban cooling techniques and flood fortifications have been used in cities including Boston and Seattle to shield citizens from climatic effects. These municipal initiatives show how important multilevel government is for tackling environmental problems.
With wind and solar power making up a rising portion of electricity generation, the United States has achieved notable advancement in the acceptance of renewable energy. Texas leads the country in wind energy; California stays at the top in solar power. Particularly in Massachusetts and New Jersey, offshore wind projects spread throughout the East Coast are expected to greatly increase the nation’s renewable energy capacity.
The energy transformation revolves mostly around technological innovation. While carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies are being developed to lower emissions from industrial activity, advances in battery storage systems are improving grid dependability. Achieving net-zero emissions worldwide would depend on increasing CCS and hydrogen fuel technologies, per a 2023 International Energy Agency (IEA) assessment.
Opportunities and Challenges in the Green Economy
The shift to a green economy presents significant employment generation possibilities. Two of the fastest-growing jobs in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are solar panel installers and wind turbine service technicians. A McKinsey analysis projects that investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and energy-efficient infrastructure could provide nearly 9 million additional employments by 2030.
Moreover, green infrastructure projects—such as public transit networks and energy-efficient building retrofits—have the potential to boost local economies while lowering emissions. Through reduced energy expenditures and higher productivity, the U.S. Green Building Council projects that every dollar spent in energy efficiency results in up to four dollars in economic benefits.
Notwithstanding great progress, considerable obstacles still exist. While technological issues including the scalability of CCS and the intermittency of renewable energy sources must be resolved, political polarization has hampered the passage of comprehensive climate legislation. Another important problem is making sure workers in sectors dependent on fossil fuels have a fair changeover. To reduce social disturbances during the energy change, policymakers have to give labor retraining and social support programs top priority.
Regarding its approach to climate change, the United States finds itself at a turning point. Although obstacles still exist, the nation’s governmental systems, technological capacity, and economic resources set it in a position to spearhead worldwide climate action. The U.S. can not only lessen the effects of climate change but also build a more sustainable and fair future by encouraging research and invention in climate finance.
The expenses of inaction much exceed the expenditures required to reduce climate effects as extreme weather events and environmental hazards keep becoming more frequent. Now is the moment for audacious, well-coordinated action including civil society, the business sector, and all tiers of government. The United States can provide a strong model for the world in tackling the existential problem of climate change with the correct mix of ambition, creativity, and cooperation.
Finance
Equities are using labor data ‘as an excuse,’ strategist says
Stocks closed Friday’s session lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) both shedding over 1.6% following the better-than-expected December jobs report. Wall Street experts are looking at the fresh employment data as a cause for the Federal Reserve to slow its interest rate cuts originally planned for 2025.
Glenmede Chief of Investment Strategy and Research Jason Pride shares his thoughts with Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton on the report, calling it “pretty decent” and believes the market could be using the labor print “as an excuse.”
“And to have some excuses for taking a breather is reasonable. That the market’s pointing to this one. I don’t know that this is really the long-term story here,” Pride explains. “In fact, quite often, we believe that markets with interest rates, with inflation expectations, they quite often take the most recent data points and actually extrapolate them a little bit too far.”
Pride also emphasizes the importance of broadening out and rebalancing one’s portfolio in order to explore more of the opportunities — from small-cap stocks (^RUT) to fixed-income (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX) — 2025 has to offer.
“Take your eyes a little bit off of the big [Magnficient] Seven or [the] big cap growth stocks that everybody is so focused on. Take your eyes a little bit off of that and recognize there is an entire investment universe to own,” Pride says.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here.
This post was written by Josh Lynch
Finance
US labor market finishes 2024 on high note, adding 256,000 jobs in December as unemployment falls to 4.1%
The US economy added more jobs than forecast in December while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 256,000 new jobs were created in December, far more than the 165,000 expected by economists and higher than the 212,000 seen in November. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in November. December marked the most monthly job gains seen since March 2023.
Revisions to the unemployment rate in 2024 also showed the labor market was stronger than initially thought. The cycle high for the unemployment rate had initially been 4.3% in July but that figure was revised down to 4.2% in Friday’s release.
“There is no denying that this is a strong report,” Jefferies US economist Thomas Simons wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
Wage growth, an important measure for gauging inflation pressures, rose 0.3% in December, in line with economists’ expectations and below the 0.4% seen in November.
Compared to the prior year, wages rose 3.9% in December, below the 4% seen in November. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate was flat at 62.5%.
The strong picture of the US labor market presented in Friday’s report pushed out investor bets on when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next. Traders now see a less than 50% chance of the Fed cutting interest rates until June, per the CME Fed Watch Tool. A day prior, investors had favored a cut in May.
Read more: How the Fed rate cut affects your bank accounts, loans, credit cards, and investments
“You’re seeing this steady but slightly cooling labor market trend, which is very encouraging from a Fed perspective,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco told Yahoo Finance. “I think the attention will actually pivot back towards inflation developments over the course of the next three months.”
Stocks sank following the report, with futures tied to all three major averages down nearly 1%. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX), a recent headwind for stocks, added about 8 basis points to reach 4.78%, its highest level since November 2023.
“The problem here now is if you’re looking for rate cuts based on a weakening labor market..stop looking for those,” Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Yahoo Finance. “It’s not going to happen in the immediate term.”
Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.
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