Moe Mentum Investing with ThinkEquity Partners

I have long enjoyed a zero-sum relationship with ThinkEquity Partners.  I lose money in their favorite names, and they garner commissions as I puke em down 40% from my basis.  Shame on me.  Well at least one of us is making a little scratch.  I recently stumbled on their ThinkBlog which left me ashen-faced. More on that in a minute…

Michael Moe has a high profile in the emerging growth camp on Wall Street, and has surrounded himself with like-minded partners and clients who embrace the higher risks that are inherent in the flakiest style boxes extant.

Growth stock investing. Imagine the smell of napalm in the morning.  The stomping ground of sadomasochist money managers.  The kind of people who actually get a rush when a position at the top of their sheets (ie. a big position) declines a couple of hundred million dollars in market cap in the blink of an eye and their quarter turns to shit against their peers. The thing is...I think these adrenaline junkies actually get off on it.

Anyhow, I see that ThinkEquity’s blog claims that they have been constructive on Google’s stock since the day it came public. 

I’ve felt Google (NASDAQ: GOOG, $427.30, Buy - Price Target: $550) is the most important growth company in the world for some time. In fact, we recommended purchase of Google shares the day it went public at $85 a share in August of 2004 - the first Wall Street firm to do so.

This is news to me.  Although they have apparently liked the stock since day one, they never once mentioned it to me. I have spoken with my ThinkEquity salesman twice a day since the boiler room was founded...and all I got from him was a pile of steaming turds. 

UT Starcom (UTSI)
At Road (ARDI)
Blue Coat Systems (BCSI)

The list goes on and on. In reality, the firm is no different than the rest of the boutiques on the street...questionable advice and constant analyst and sales trader turnover. To be fair, the turnover in personnel is probably no higher than that of the fund complexes they call on.

Moe’s firm has actually carved out a unique niche in the markets they serve.  Without these people our economy would likely be less robust and a lot more boring.  It’s what keeps us ahead of the Joneses in the rest of the world.

But when you guys discover the next Google, could you at least give me a call?

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