Joseph Parnes
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Joseph Parnes is President of Technomart Investment Advisors and editor of the market letter Shortex. As an investment advisor, he has distinguished himself as one of the foremost short sellers in the stock market. His investment strategy is known to be contrarian in nature. [1]
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[edit] Early years
Joseph Parnes was born in 1946 in Iran. He is the fourth and youngest child. Both of his parents had died when he was 12, leaving him on his own and forcing him to take on multiple jobs to support himself, including a taxi driver. Parnes then emigrated to the U.S. to study electrical engineering at the University of Louisiana. Here he struggled to support himself while in school, and found himself working and sleeping at nights at the local Catholic Hospital in Lafayette, LA. Once he graduated, he moved to New York City and began work at Western Electric under AT&T. The early 1970s were detrimental to the stock market, as a result of Watergate and the oil shortages. This is when Parnes found short positions to be an asset in developing a successful stock portfolio.
[edit] Professional career
In 1979, he founded Technomart Investment Advisors, which develops custom accounts for both individual and institutional investors. He also created Shortex, a market letter which selects seven long and seven short positions. Parnes is currently President of the firm, directing all research, analysis, and corporate strategy. He is responsible for supplying the firm's private and institutional clients with actionable investment advice. He has experience across a broad array of industries, with a special focus on growth companies.
[edit] Short Selling
Joseph Parnes' short-selling ability has led to a recent surge in investment material in the last 6 years in the market. His contrarian style has branded him as a lone voice in a mass of Wall Street homogeneity, and has led to recent controversy with companies such as American Home Mortgage (March 21st, 2007) and Hansen Natural for his public declaration with the CEO on Bloomberg TV of impending devaluation. Often, he is unable to comment on companies based on the perceived negative nature of a short recommendation.
[edit] Accomplishments
As of 2007, he has over $100 million. His account strategy contains an average of 20% short positions. Technomart Investment Advisors has been recognized as one of the top wealth managers in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 by Bloomberg Wealth Manager[2]. Parnes is featured regularly in print publications such as Barron's Magazine, Investor's Business Daily, and Forbes. Parnes frequents Bloomberg Television, CNBC, and Nightly Business Report.
