We evaluate here the market commentary of James Oberweis via Zacks.com since July 2002. James Oberweis is one of Zacks’ “pros” and a principal at Oberweis Securities Inc., “a boutique investment firm…with a particular focus on aggressive investors.” The firm’s investment strategy, which they call the “‘Oberweis Octagon,’ uses eight criteria to combine the best features of both growth and value investing.” Mr. Oberweis’ commentary for Zacks is discontinued as of November 2007. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

Readers requested a review of the performance of recommendations made by Lenny Dykstra in his articles at TheStreet.com. The publication has engaged Lenny Dykstra for three stints: 9/6/05-8/14/06, 2/7/07-11/7/07 and 3/25/08-present. In these articles, he generally recommends buying deep-in-the-money call options four to six months from expiration for specific “undervalued” stocks, with a good-until-canceled sell order targeting a modest gain of about 10%. He attempts to find stocks on the rebound to mitigate the risk of holding options that eventually expire. He employs this “going deep” options strategy for some leverage with minimal option time value erosion. Can Lenny Dykstra systematically find undervalued stocks? Does his options strategy work? Using the “Stat Book Scorecard” from his 11/28/07 article (covering the recommendations from his second stint) and associated daily return data (close-to-close) for the underlying stocks and the S&P 500 index, along with the “Return on Investment” calculations from his 11/9/07 article, we conclude that: Keep Reading

We evaluate here the market commentary of Richard Rhodes, previously available via Zacks.com over the period March 2004 through October 2005. Richard Rhodes, editor of “The Rhodes Report” newsletter, is one of Zacks’ “pros.” His “proprietary models…provide specific trading recommendations not found at any other shop on or off of Wall Street.” The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

We evaluate here the weekly commentary of Merrill Lynch’s Bob Doll from January 2003 (the earliest available) through September 2006. Bob Doll was President and CIO of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the firm’s asset management arm. With the October 2006 merger of this group with Blackrock Inc., Mr. Doll’s commentary for Merrill Lynch is discontinued. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

As suggested by a reader, we evaluate here the market commentary of David Nassar via MarketWatch for November 2004 through May 2006. David Nassar is the chairman and chief executive of MarketWise.com, “a company built by traders and investors offering quality university level education with enduring benefits.” Their mission is “to support traders and investors in their quest to achieve financial freedom and success, while sharing the passion and trading skills of our instructors with our students.” The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

As suggested by a reader, we evaluate here the Trading Wire archives at Tobin Smith’s ChangeWave, which extend back to November 2004. Tobin Smith, according to ChangeWave.com, is “among an esteemed new breed of investment advisors, with a fresh profit strategy for the post 2000-2002 bear-market investing world. He’s an energetic straight shooter with a simple goal: exceptionally large profits from sweeping, transformational changes taking place within industries or individual companies.” As complement to analysis of “sweeping, transformational changes,” the Weekly Forecast section of ChangeWave’s Trading Wire offers commentary on stock market direction. The principal author of this weekly forecast is ChangeWave’s Chief Technical Analyst Sam Collins. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

We evaluate here the advice offered in the “Trendspotting” column in SmartMoney.com by Igor Greenwald since October 2002 (the earliest available). Igor Greenwald was a regular writer and columnist for SmartMoney.com. The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

We evaluate here the the market commentary of Paul Tracy available via Zacks.com since October 2002. Paul Tracy, founder and Chief Investment Strategist of StreetAuthority, is one of Zacks’ “pros.” StreetAuthority describes itself as “a research-intensive financial publishing firm that aims to level the playing field for small investors by giving them access to the ideas and insights of some of the country’s top investment analysts and writers.” The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading

We evaluate here the market commentary of Ben Zacks over the period June 2002 through January 2005. Ben Zacks is a co-founder of Zacks Investment Research and Senior Strategist and Portfolio Manager at Zacks Wealth Management Group. Since January 2005, Zacks.com has discontinued making his regular commentary publicly available (and removed his past commentary). The table below quotes forecast highlights from the cited source and shows the performance of the S&P 500 Index over various numbers of trading days after the publication date for each item. Grading takes into account more detailed market behavior when appropriate. Red plus (minus) signs to the right of specific forecasts indicate those graded right (wrong) based on subsequent market behavior, while red zeros denote any complex forecasts graded both right and wrong. We conclude that: Keep Reading