5/18/2008

The top five stock pickers in each industry, ranked on their recommendation-performance scores for 2007. Performance scores were calculated based on the estimated total return, including price changes and dividends, of each eligible stock an analyst covered in an industry, as well as the number of stocks the analyst covered within that industry. Analysts got credit for being right about buy and sell recommendations. For a stock rated a "buy," a positive total return yielded a positive score, but a negative return produced a negative score. Similarly, for a stock rated "sell," a negative total return yielded a positive score while a positive return resulted in a negative score.

The number next to each analyst's name refers to the number of years he or she has been recognized in The Wall Street Journal's survey. The firm listed for each analyst is the one at which the analyst worked the longest during 2007 and the one that gets the credit for his or her achievement. Whenever possible, a footnote indicates if an analyst is no longer at the firm shown. For each industry, the number of analysts evaluated and their median score are shown.

FOOTNOTES:

* Winner in more than one category

** Firm not in Thomson Financial database in 2007; ranking based on data specially submitted

Honors: 2 - Two-year winner; 3 - Three-year winner; 4 - Four-year winner; 5 - Five-year winner; 6 - Six-year winner; 7 - Seven-year winner; 8 - Eight-year winner; 10 - Ten-year winner

Source: Thomson Reuters