breaking news ...street talk p22, page-34

Where analysts shine is in helping to understand a company's business model and advantages, and also in helping to project out if a company has any large expenditures or debts coming due in the next 24 months.

Analysts can usually identify when a company has no real advantages, which often helps me avoid committing to something for a longer timeframe when it's just a trade.

For something like BBI, an analyst cannot say what he really thinks for legal reasons. An analyst rating of 7.5 or 5 cents might as well be $0. I don't count on that kind of estimate for precision.