consensus, page-12

Tas always enjoy your posts. As we get older I think we appreciate fundamentals more & more so it is not suprising older brokers know value when they see it. Although I currently don't hold BHP I am aware of an intrinsic value for this stock. It amazes me how broking firms give very poor analysis of stocks like this (tendency to call low safe values it case they are wrong). Broking firms should be prepared to back their research & make an true call on their value rather than have a bit each way. I personally ignore all broker reports now because I think they ignore the real key factors. They are reluctant to do cashflow analysis that reveals the true value of a stock & are very happy to call low values when compiling reports on companies. BHP didn't enjoy a full year of current commodity prices last year, nor will the coming year have the same volume as last year. Revenue is a function of price times volume & I suspect many analysts & day traders get to concerned with prices when they don't realize rising volumes can offset falling prices. Would it really matter that much that BHP's profit was down 10% next year in the bigger picture of their resource portfolio & long term demand for their commodities.
Regards
Buffett