Citigroup anlayst gets it wrong--really wrong

May 8, 2008

Shannon Cowherd, bank analyst at Citigroup, raised eyebrows last week when she put out a note to clients estimating that the Royal Bank of Canada faced a whoppingÂ $10.2 billion in writedowns. Whew! The Globe and Mail noted that no other analysts was expecting more than $800 million. The bank issued a release saying the analyst had her facts wrong. The next note to clients had a revised estimate, $1.8 billion, based in part on "incremental information."Â Still high, but in the ballpark. Analysts are still influential, even in this post-Spitzer era. These sorts of gaffes are rare, but they do happen. The sad part is that some IR employee likely took the blame internally. Â

For more:
- here's the Globe and MailÂ article