Press Release

May 28, 2009

RAYMOND JAMES EQUITY RESEARCH
ANALYSTS RECOGNIZED IN THREE
NATIONAL STOCK-PICKING SURVEYS

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street,” Forbes’ “Blue Chip Analyst” and the Financial Times/Starmine S&P 500 and Russell 2000 stock selection surveys, Raymond James equity research analysts were judged to have performed particularly well and topped several industry categories.

In the Wall Street Journal’s 17th annual “Best on the Street” survey, it teamed with FactSet to analyze the stock selection performance of 1,925 analysts at 163 brokerage firms. The top five analysts in each of 44 industries were then identified, based solely on stock-picking skills.

Six Raymond James analysts captured seven individual stock-picking awards in this year’s survey, published May 26, and helped the firm achieve a seventh-place tie ranking among all brokerage firms. Topping the Aerospace and Defense category was Brian Gesuale, who was also second in the Internet and Computer Services sector. Other Raymond James analysts cited in the survey were William Fisher, second in the Industrial Transportation category; Patrick O’Shaughnessy, second in Investment Services, and John Ransom, third in Retailers, Food and Drug.

Forbes magazine also released the results of its “Blue Chip Analyst” survey May 7, which recognized estimate accuracy as well as stock selection over a three-year period ending in March. The survey, which is administered by Zacks Investment Research, evaluates data from 2,700 sell-side security analysts and focuses on earnings forecasts and buy and sell stock recommendations. Forbes recognized 12 Raymond James analysts with 15 awards, which placed the firm fifth overall among participating brokerage firms.

Noteworthy in the survey were:

• Pavel Molchanov, who ranked first in Alternative Energy and second in Oil Exploration and Production;
• Bill Fisher, first in both Industrial Services and in Transportation;
• Paul Puryear, first in Construction & Building Materials;
• Bill Crow, first in Leisure Services; and
• Joe Hovorka, first in Consumer Discretionary and second in Leisure Services.

In addition, Puryear was recognized as among the top 12 analysts (the Dazzling Dozen) and both Puryear and Molchanov were noted as having two of the best negative calls.

Earlier in the year the Financial Times published Starmine’s survey of stock selection performance in 2008 for S&P 500 and Russell 2000 companies. Raymond James placed seventh among the 22 U.S. brokerage firms covering more than 125 S&P 500 companies and fourth among all brokerage firms covering the Russell 2000.

“Being ranked so highly among our peers on these national surveys, despite having fewer analysts than some of the largest firms, is a testament to the hard work and expertise of our analysts and their teams,” said Bob Anastasi, senior managing director of equity research for Raymond James.

The Raymond James Equity Research department covers more than 700 companies in the U.S. and over 1,000 globally, in eight industry sectors which include consumer, energy, financial services, healthcare, business and industrial services, real estate, technology, and telecommunications. The department’s stock picking expertise – highlighted by its annual “Analysts’ Best Picks” list – is readily available to the firm’s 5,000 advisors on a daily basis.

The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Financial Times do not endorse, sponsor or approve the investment programs of Raymond James. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial (NYSE-RJF) is a Florida-based diversified holding company providing financial services to individuals, corporations and municipalities through its subsidiary companies. Its three principal wholly owned broker/dealers (Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James Ltd.) and Raymond James Investment Services Limited, a majority-owned independent contractor subsidiary in the United Kingdom, have a total of more than 5,000 financial advisors serving approximately 1.8 million accounts in 2,200 locations throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. In addition, total client assets are currently $183 billion, of which approximately $28 billion are managed by the firm’s asset management subsidiaries.

–30–

For more information, please contact Anthea Penrose at 727-567-2824.
Please visit the Raymond James Press Center at raymondjames.com/media.