Charles Clough has announced he's leaving at the end of the year. He's been openly pessimistic about the stock market. Merrill Lynch is not interested in that kind of transparency.

This is reported in WSJ, but that's a closed site. Try the AP or Reuters links later in the day.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), August 27, 1999

Answers

Here's a little more from WSJ article:

But for more than three years, Mr. Clough has been among Wall Street's most visible bears, recommending that investors tilt their portfolios heavily toward bonds and cash, rather than U.S. stocks. His long-held asset allocation model is 40% stocks, 55% bonds and 5% cash.

The result: Anyone who has followed Mr. Clough's asset-allocation advice rather than his sector calls has missed out on the tremendous gains in stocks in recent years. In The Wall Street Journal's most recent survey of 13 brokerage firms' asset blends, Mr. Clough's mix finished last in the one-quarter, one-year and five-year categories.

... Mr. Clough, 57 years old, recently told his supervisors he will leave the firm at year's end. He hopes to launch an investment boutique. The move would end a high-profile, 12-year career at Merrill. An ordained Roman Catholic Deacon, Mr. Clough says he wants to spend more time with his family and his church, Our Lady Help of Christians, in Concord, Mass.

"I want a lifestyle change," he says. "I would also like to run my own show."

-- Cheryl (Transplant@Oregon.com), August 27, 1999.

Good news gets promoted.

Bad news takes a hike.

-- Charles R. (chuck_roast@trans.net), August 27, 1999.

"Mr. Clough's mix finished last in the one-quarter, one-year and five-year categories."

It's all about predicting market performance... even if that performance is based on bad business practices and the experts' analyses thereof are poorly done.

To paraphrase one financial commentator's remarks (as recently posted in this forum), "basic economic principles are being violated."

The rare exceptions, people of principle like Mr. Clough, unfortunately get shafted during the time that the false "bubble" economy continues to prosper. In it's short-sighted view, Merrill Lynch is just practicing business as usual. Actually, I'm surprised that he's lasted as long as he has, given the current environment.

Like many here, I believe that Mr. Clough's views will be vindicated very soon. Simply put, he was a man slightly ahead of his time.

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), August 27, 1999.

Right Chuck. Transparency now means use every possible means to preserve and enhance short-term prosperity and power. All communication by big business and its PAC dangling puppet, government, must first pass through the short-term prosperity filter.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), August 27, 1999.