Analysts Botched 2011 Market Forecasts - We Didn't

With much of the damage already done, several major financial institutions recently have scrambled to lower their stock market forecasts. The reduced expectations contrast with the optimistic projections the same analysts made back at the beginning of the year.

But Money Morning readers knew better. Our experts warned you about the market downturn months ago - weeks before the painful drop in stock prices.

Once again, Wall Street is playing catch-up.

For instance, Wells Fargo & Co. 's (NYSE: WFC) Gina Martin Adams cut her target for the Standard & Poor's 500 index to 1,250, which would represent a 1% loss for the year. She predicted a 10% gain back in January; the index is currently down 6.7% on the year.

Barclays Capital PLC's (NYSE ADR: BCS) Barry Knapp just dropped his S&P 500 price target from a lofty 1,450 to 1,325. The index closed at 1,188.71 yesterday (Wednesday).

Other Johnny-come-latelies in recent days include UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) and Yardeni Research.

Unfortunately, investors who relied on Wall Street's forecasters once again received information that was too late to be of use.

But we sounded the alarm back in late June - weeks before the U.S. stock market took a swan dive.

"With everything from the Greek debt crisis to worries about China's growth roiling the markets these days, the investing outlook seems to get shakier by the minute," Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald wrote on June 30.

That's the sort of early warning that can save an investor a lot of heartache - and a lot of money.

Getting access to that kind of market intelligence and portfolio protection isn't difficult. In fact, it isn't even expensive.

You can have access to that sort of vital market perspectives on a daily basis just by subscribing to our new premium advisory service, Private Briefing.

In
Private Briefing, Money Morning Executive Editor William Patalon provides readers with reports on his daily conferences with Fitz-Gerald, global-investing specialist Martin Hutchinson, natural-resources expert Peter Krauth, former hedge-fund manager Shah Gilani, and others - giving readers deeper market insights than they can get anywhere else.

Not only will our team of global investing experts tell you what to expect, they'll tell you how to prepare your portfolio accordingly. And, priced at only $5 a month, it's a premium investment advisory service that any investor can afford.

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About the Author

David Zeiler, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including 18 spent at The Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a writer, editor, and page designer at different times in his career. He's interviewed a number of well-known personalities - ranging from punk rock icon Joey Ramone to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Over the course of his journalistic career, Dave has covered many diverse subjects. Since arriving at Money Morning in 2011, he has focused primarily on technology. He's an expert on both Apple and cryptocurrencies. He started writing about Apple for The Sun in the mid-1990s, and had an Apple blog on The Sun's web site from 2007-2009. Dave's been writing about Bitcoin since 2011 - long before most people had even heard of it. He even mined it for a short time.

Dave has a BA in English and Mass Communications from Loyola University Maryland.

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