An Analyst's Tale

This article tells the story of a longtime financial analyst who has gotten in trouble for suggesting that there are times when bank stocks should be sold. In the article, the man, Mike Mayo, talks about his experiences trying to tell people to sell bank stocks just before crisis hits, and the incredible amount of pushback that he has received for doing that. He also talks about how few analysts in the field routinely suggest selling any stock. They say that you should either buy, or hold. However, as Mr. Mayo points out, these two options do not work in all situations, and there is definitely a time to sell. This point underlies a major issue in the financial sector. This lack of honesty about the state of the market has and will only lead to trouble. As Mr. Mayo suggests near the end of the article, more transparency is needed in the financial sector to discourage this kind of behavior.