The Street Sweeper Moved The Market On La Jolla, But How's Its Overall Success Rate?

Between 10:05 a.m. EST and 10:10 a.m. EST on Monday, shares of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company

dipped suddenly by over a percent. The Street Sweeper (www.thestreetsweeper.org) published a bearish report on the company at 10:07. The Street Sweeper is one of several independent online research providers, joined by sites like Citron Research (http://www.citronresearch.com/) and Muddy Waters (http://www.muddywatersresearch.com/research/). Many investors have noticed these groups' unlikely ability to move markets, and, in some cases, predict massive arbitrage opportunities. Earlier in July, Kornit Digital

fell by 4.5 percent directly after a warning by the Street Sweeper. In mid-June, Uranium Energy Corp.

took a 26 percent hit following a similar negative outlook by Senior Editor Sonya Colberg. Since then, it has shed almost half of its value. But these cases are far from consistent. On June 10, Colberg advised readers to short Northwest Biotherapeutics

. The stock closed in the green that day, and sporadic activity since has led it to a current all-time high. Her bearish outlook on eMagin Corporation

on June 11 was followed by modest gains, and the stock is currently sitting at the same level it was at the time of the report. Furthermore, even when The Street Sweeper's advice has a short-term effect on a company's share prices, it is seldom indicative of long-term devaluations. After falling briefly Monday, La Jolla rebounded back up to 3 percent gains for the day within two hours. Kornit shares spiked up by more than 10 percent just a few days after its bashing by The Street Sweeper. So while investors would likely do well to note The Street Sweeper's analysis as potential short-term market movers, they should probably take the firm's long-term theses with a grain of salt.