Analysts land in the bear pit

The grizzlies are stalking Wall Street. The US economy's heady 101/2-year flight may soon be no more than a fading memory.

Of course, for many it already is. The growing army of equity investors has not been waiting for the benchmark index - the Dow Jones 30 Industrials - to tumble 20 per cent from its highs and succumb officially to the bear market. They have felt the squeeze for some time; indeed, it is the disquiet of this group that has been pivotal in driving the market down despite the best efforts of the messianic Alan Greenspan.

It is hardly a surprise that the fast-changing nature of equity investment might catch out a 70-something market juggler. More surprising is that it appears to have caught almost everyone else on the hop. After all, it has been no secret for some time that the markets were due a dunking.

Maybe that is why a top financial newspaper this week turned on equity analysts. Accusing them of having become little more than puppets of investment bankers, manipulative corporate giants and the media, it noted that it was almost impossible to find an analyst with a "sell" recommendation even as the markets head south. Money talks, it appears, and don't worry about the investor.