Some stock market studies have shown that at times the “best” companies are not always the very best investments. A recent Barron’s article (The Trader, April 11, 2015) demonstrated this perverse outcome. The data revealed that the highest analyst-rated stocks had an average return of 9.5% per year. The lowest rated stocks? 13.2% per year. That’s a whopper of a difference. How can this be?

 
                               
                               
                               
                               
                              