Investments: Tempest Over Tipsters

As many as 10 million viewers tune in each Friday evening to public television's Wall Street Week. In one regular segment of the show, Host Louis Rukeyser queries expert guests for stock tips. As it turns out, those analysts may have an unwitting knack for touting losers. According to a study released by Market Logic, a Fort Lauderdale newsletter, the 261 stocks picked by guests between late April 1983 and July 1984 fell by 8.4%, compared with a 5.7% drop for the market as a whole.

The study sparked a stinging exchange between Rukeyser and Financial Columnist Dan Dorfman, who wrote...