tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886595570005494885.post1697935154799267905..comments2008-10-07T13:36:52.092-04:00Nurseb911http://www.blogger.com/profile/04974722323117696369noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886595570005494885.post-25047724570315232842008-10-07T13:36:00.000-04:002008-10-07T13:36:00.000-04:00Michelle,<BR/><BR/>I'm often not a big fan of analysts to begin with. <BR/><BR/>When I generally forecast future earnings for a company I use their internal guidance because they're the ones with the inside look on the business. <BR/><BR/>Analysts often have a conflict of interest because they want to sell an opinion and look from the outside only. They can use complex consumer information to forecast demand or use earnings projections across an industry as a benchmark, but generally I look to trust the managers of the business to accurately give me, as a shareholder, a perspective of where earnings will be and come from.<BR/><BR/>An analyst doesn't know if a company's sales team is meeting their own forecasts or how costs are directly affecting the bottom line. They can assume, but the reliability of those opinions are never something I feel comfortable placing my invested capital on.Nurse B, 911http://www.blogger.com/profile/13599091589209075856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886595570005494885.post-39536664288158892292008-10-07T12:54:00.000-04:002008-10-07T12:54:00.000-04:00How do u take analyst predictions into account?<BR/>If a company reports earnings that miss analyst expectations the stock generally gets hit alsoMichellenoreply@blogger.com