A Stock Analyst's Mission
"To the Editor:
Re ''Irreplaceable Exuberance,'' by Henry Blodget (Op-Ed, Aug. 30):
Like Mr. Blodget, I was a stock analyst. I followed the drug industry in the 1980's when investors were clamoring to buy the stocks. It is not a simple industry to follow, with clinical trials, regulatory issues and large overseas businesses.
When stocks climbed with speculation, I did my job. It wasn't glamorous. I traveled to Finland in the unbalmy month of January to speak to the director of a clinical trial. There was no evidence that the drug studied would protect the heart, and I pulled the buy rating.
I was paid to do equity research for investors, not to please the companies I followed or my firms' investment bankers.
It broke my heart (and investors' wallets) when my former profession was degraded under the watch of Mr. Blodget, who was barred from the industry, and others like him.
Lynne Pauls Baron  Killingworth, Conn., Aug. 30, 2005"