Consensus Price Target 13.89, page-2

On an emotional level, it's nice to see positive broker outlooks for a stock I'm in or, in the case of A2M, looking to buy.

On a practical level (maybe a philosophical one), I wonder why anyone puts much weight on these outlooks. We've surely learned from the GFC, as well as before and after it, that brokers are right up there with rating agencies as corrupt, inept, or both, and their estimates (read guesses) have little credibility. By corrupt or inept, I mean practices such as:

- selling a positive target price or rating to the company (i.e getting kickbacks) in the knowledge that the share price will rise on it.
- promoting a target price or rating and then doing the opposite (i.e buying when promoting a Sell, as the share price drops, or vice versa)
- moving the goalposts (i.e changing their opinion simply on the basis of share price fluctuations and general sentiment rather than a change in fundamentals)

As an example of one of these practices, have a look at the attached chart. It shows the sentiment from Goldman Sachs against the Bellamy's (BAL) share price. (I was a holder of BAL until recently).

Disclosure: I'm on the sidelines with A2M at the moment, thinking about buying in. I'm very wary of self-appointed experts, while trying to keep an open mind to all opinions. A difficult juggling act.