Downgraded

DEATH threats were received by Jonathan Joseph, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney who dared to downgrade shares in semiconductor companies earlier this month. This will send a strong signal to his fellow professionals, who hardly need more reasons to be nice about the firms they follow. In recent years, analysts' opinions have increasingly been guided by the needs of their investment-banking bosses. As Arthur Levitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has complained, “all too often, analysts are falling on the side of protecting the business relationship at the cost of fair analysis”.