Bob Farrell has been studying and writing about markets for over 60 years. He spent 45 years with Merrill Lynch as Chief Market Analyst and Senior Investment Advisor. He authored the firm’s Market Analysis Comment which was distributed to individual and institutional clients worldwide beginning in 1971 and later a Theme and Profile Investing quarterly. After retiring from Merrill in 2002, he formed Farrell Advisory Associates and continued to write for a limited group of institutional clients another 15 years.
In his role as a technical analyst, he achieved several milestones. He recognized the importance of investor psychology and contrary thinking to markets and was the first to use the term “sentiment” analysis to describe psychological indicators which is used extensively today. In 1970 he joined with a group that created the first professional organization for technical analysts and became its first president. Institutional Investor Magazine’s annual research poll which added a Technical Market Timing category for the first time in 1976, ranked him # 1 in the country for that category 16 of the 17 years he was competing for the honor. He was a frequent guest on the popular weekly TV show Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser and was voted by viewers to the Wall Street Week Hall Fame. He also created and wrote the first regular report on Theme investing in his last ten years at Merrill. Thereafter, when he formed Farrell Advisory, he had a limited but highly successful number of financial industry leaders as clients.
Besides his commitment to his family, he served on the boards of the New York Foundling, Manhattan College and Mt. Carmel Catholic Church as Chairman of their investment committees over varying time periods.
He remains actively studying markets and hopes to have enough time to write a memoir about his experiences in the constantly evolving complex world of markets.