Dude, who the hell puts a sell on Dell!

Dell (DELL) got a rare sell from Citi analyst Richard Gardner! The good news - a sell on Wall Street is sighted less often than a bird of paradise in PNG! This is something to drink to (this is not a sober post unlike the earlier one)! The bad news - like so many sell calls, this one comes too late. Investors who followed this brave (!) analyst, would have bought high and sold low - doesn't smell like a formula for minting money!

The ugly truth - even in the post-Spitzer era - there are considerably more buy and outperformance ratings than sell and underperformance ones. Most analysts just aren't independent enough to tell it like it really is. At the same time, they still can move markets, with funds likely moving in and out based on these calls, costing small investors and postponing their retirements indefinitely.

How long before this analyst is shown the door ? Sell on Dell - what was he thinking!

As far as I am concerned, it is time to buy. I am putting my money where my mouth is - I am buying a few Dell shares this week. Thank you for giving me a great entry point!

Dell has work ahead of it, but I can wait while I accumulate. Dell is making the right moves. The recent acquisition of Alienware is a step in the right direction. Dell also seems to be working on improvements to software downloads from its site.

Dell will have to start shipping AMD servers to win back the enterprise market. It has been rumored for a while, but at this point, Dell needs it as much as or more than AMD!

Dell can also afford to go after Lexmark (LXK). Lexmark is an interesting buy right now.

I own some AMD shares, bought at around $11.4/share - will be holding onto them for a long time. Along with Dell, I plan to buy a few Lexmark shares this coming week.

I also own a large number of Intraware (ITRA) shares. Spot the connection (or should that be link!) to this post ?

While on undervalued tech picks I should again point out that both Oracle (ORCL) and Symantec (SYMC) are good long-term buys now.

Here is hoping that the analyst tribe goes the way of the dodo - I am unable to see what service they render to society.