“The road to stock-analyst fame used to run strictly through Ivy League business schools and Wall Street brokerage firms,” writes Paul Cox in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“But that’s changed as financial Web sites, online chats, and stock-discussion boards — and some well-timed media appearances — have opened new routes to celebrity for would-be investment gurus.”

“Take the case of Luciano Siracusano.”

“Mr. Siracusano, editor of online financial magazine IndividualInvestor.com, has won the top spot in both weekly and monthly stock-picking rankings from Validea.com, a Web site that tracks traditional and non-traditional stock analysts, and ranks them based on the success of their picks and pans.”

“Even in the treacherous markets of 2001, Validea’s data show Mr. Siracusano’s picks would have netted investors 2.61% return for the six months ended in mid-August, compared with a 2.49% loss from the average picks by 491 Wall Street analysts during the same period.”

“Validea indicates Mr. Siracusano does particularly well with short-term recommendations. According to the site, 79 of Mr. Siracusano’s picks have yielded one-week returns on average of 4.32%, while one-month returns have averaged 11.17%. Of 51 picks made at least six months ago, returns have averaged 3.64%.”

“Keith M. Ferry, president of Validea Inc., says during certain periods, non-traditional analysts such as Mr. Siracusano have had a better track record than Wall Street analysts. Since the company began compiling data in January 1999, stock picks by the 300 most active stock pickers among non-traditional analysts have shown an 18.09% one-year return. During the same period, the picks of 1,000 traditional stock analysts have returned 7.49%.”

“Validea’s Web site records analysts’ picks and then measures how much an investor, who immediately acted on the advice, would have made or lost over various periods time. The company records both ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ recommendations, and measures how much the stock gained or lost after the pick.”

“Among media stock pickers, Mr. Ferry says he would group Mr. Siracusano with such well-known names as Jim Jubak of Microsoft Investor, Michael Sivy from Money magazine and James J. Cramer and Herb Greenberg from TheStreet.com.”

“Not bad for a guy without so much as a business degree.”