Buy: This means that the analyst has already bought the stock and wants your purchase to help drive his investment higher.
Buy (OPM): Buy the stock, but not with your own money.
Buy and hold: Analysts often issue this recommendation in order to encourage you to stay with a stock even if it fluctuates, say, losing 80% of its value.
Kiss and tell: How analysts work with companies during an IPO.
Buy don't hold: This is what the analysts do after they purchase stock.
Buy and hold with ten-foot barge pole: This is reserved for new stock issues when the analyst is pressured to make a buy recommendation but knows the company has spent more on Aeron chairs than on Engineering.
Strong Buy: This means you should really buy the stock as opposed to a regular "buy" which generally means you should sell.
Long Term Buy: The analyst is sure that the price will change in the future, but is not sure whether its going to go up or down. May recommend dollar-cost averaging as a way to avoid looking stupid.
Short Term Buy: The company may not be in business too much longer.
Accumulate: Similar to buy, but may also be used to recommend buying delisted stock certificates on eBay as gag gifts for former clients.
Hold: Rather than say "Sell", analysts will sometimes use a more subtle recommendation indicating you should dump this sucker faster than a beach-front rental in Afghanistan. Source of funds: This is code again indicating if you need short term liquidity, say to buy groceries, you should dump this stock.
Neutral: How the analyst feels about this week's football pool.
Above Average: The analyst's salary and bonus.
Below Average: The analyst's IQ.
Attractive: What the analyst thinks of his new assistant.
Speculative hold: What the analyst hopes to do with his new assistant.
Avoid: What the assistant thinks of her boss.
Market Outperform: Indicates that the stock should do better than the other losers previously recommended.
Market Underperformer: The analyst has already started shorting the stock.
Market Out to Lunch: Indicates the analyst cannot figure out what is going on and starts drinking heavily.
Market Undertaker: Best outcome is liquidation either of the company or of the CEO.
Market Nervous: The analyst is liquidating in his shorts.
No coverage: The analyst has lost his job.
Sell: No such recommendation.
AKK Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
