Michael Goldstein Empirical Research Partners
Michael Goldstein of Empirical Research Partners lands in second place for a third year running; he also tops the roster in Quantitative Research. In January, Goldstein predicted that the rally in consumer stocks — which had soared 56.9 percent in the preceding 12 months — was coming to an end, as the wealthiest and biggest spenders would suffer most from declining real estate prices. He was right, but a bit early: The sector continued to rise, peaking in April, but by the end of August, it had given up all its gains for the year. “Michael is the only strategist I read religiously,” affirms one money manager.