| | | Ed Hyman | | ISI Group | First-place appearances: 34 Total appearances: 38 Analyst debut: 1976 |
Ed Hyman of ISI Group extends his winning streak to an astonishing 34 years. The Hall of Famer remains “a must-read economist, super hard-worker and all-around good guy,” according to one client. Hyman, 68, holds that the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing policy is driving stocks and residential mortgages higher, which should accelerate fourth-quarter growth. And although a strengthening housing market is an important harbinger of overall economic improvement because it affects consumers nationwide, he says, share price gains are less telling. “The market had gone from 700 to 1,700, but it still feels crummy,” Hyman notes. He expects stocks to keep rising, at the expense of bond values, but his primary concern is that the Fed’s eventual QE tapering will result in rising interest rates that boost borrowing costs and thereby cramp the consumer economy. Hyman is monitoring the transition to a new Fed chair, ahead of Ben Bernanke’s year-end departure. The veteran economist “gives you the experience and perspective that you don’t get with some 30-year-old Wharton [School] whiz kid,” cheers another ally. — Paul Sweeney |
