First Team

Ed Hyman

ISI

Second Team

David Malpass, Bear Stearns

Third Team

David Rosenberg, Merrill Lynch

Runners-Up

Maury Harris, UBS; Nancy Lazar ISI

The reigning champion of the All-America Research Team, Ed Hyman of International Strategy & Investment Group extends his winning streak to a 28th year for his “unparalleled ability to boil down economic data into easy to read and understand reports,” according to one money manager. Hyman, 62, started alerting investors to weaknesses in the U.S. housing market back in 2003, saying at the time that home prices were entering “bubble territory.” He subsequently emphasized that message repeatedly, culminating in his prediction last year that the bubble would burst by year-end 2006; he missed by only a few months. Returning in second for a third consecutive year, David Malpass of Bear Stearns “is consistently able to tie his economic insights into actionable ideas, which not all of his peers can do,” says one investor. Throughout the past year, Malpass highlighted the global impact of plentiful liquidity on growth and equities, and more recently he has published research indicating that U.S. household savings rates, which he believes have been dramatically underestimated, will help ameliorate the current credit crunch. David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch finishes in third for a third straight time. “His economic forecasts have been generally on the mark, with a standout call being his long-held negative stance on the U.S. housing market,” explains one portfolio manager. In January, Rosenberg predicted that foreign equities would be largely unaffected by a downturn in U.S. capital markets and urged investors to increase their international exposure.