Joseph Parnes (born November 23, 1946) is an American businessperson and registered investment advisor notable for his involvement in short selling. He is president of Technomart Investment Advisors and editor of the market letter ''Shortex''. His investment strategy is known to be contrarian in nature and is a regular contributor to '' Forbes'' and ''Futures Magazine''. His short strategy was expressly referenced in ''Barron's'' feature article "Now a Word From the Dark Side".

Early years

Parnes was born in 1946 in Iran to a Persian Jewish family. He is the fourth and youngest child. Both of his parents died when he was 12, leaving him on his own and forcing him to take on multiple jobs to support himself, including being a taxi driver. Parnes then emigrated to the U.S. to study

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. There he struggled to support himself while in school, and found himself working and sleeping at nights at the local Catholic hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana. Once he graduated, he moved to New York City and began work at

Western Electric The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...

, part of AT&T. The early 1970s were detrimental to the stock market, as a result of the Watergate scandal and the oil shortage. This is when Parnes found short positions to be an asset in developing a successful

stock portfolio In finance, a portfolio is a collection of Investment#In finance, investments. Definition The term “portfolio” refers to any combination of financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds and cash. Portfolios may be held by individual ...

Professional career

In 1979, Parnes founded Technomart Investment Advisors, which develops custom accounts for both individual and institutional investors. He also created ''Shortex'', a market letter which selects seven long and seven short positions. Parnes is currently president of the firm, directing all research, analysis, and corporate strategy. He is responsible for supplying the firm's private and institutional clients with actionable investment advice. He has experience across a broad array of industries, with a special focus on growth companies. Parnes' focus on short-selling has led to recent controversy with companies such as American Home Mortgage and

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for his public declaration with the CEO on Bloomberg TV of impending devaluation.

Accomplishments

, Parnes had over $220 million, and was included in '' Barron's'' Top Investment Advisor Money Poll. Technomart Investment Advisors was recognized as one of the top wealth managers by ''Bloomberg Wealth Manager'' from 2004 to 2012. Parnes was highlighted in the "Baltimore Business Journal" for not losing money in 2008. He was a featured speaker at Reuters Advice Point in 2007, and was asked to provide his input on short-selling to th
Financial Markets Law Committee
c/o

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

via the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...

in 2011. He has been featured regularly in media including '' Barron's'', '' Investor's Business Daily'', ''

Futures Magazine ''Modern Trader'' is a U.S.-based monthly print investment magazine. The publication was established in 1972 under the name ''Commodities''. The name was changed to ''Futures'' in September 1983 and ''Modern Trader'' in 2015. The magazine is a st ...

'', '' Forbes'', Bloomberg, CNBC, and formerly the '' Nightly Business Report''. In 2020 Joseph Parnes released his first book, ''Short Selling for the Long Term''. The book focuses on leveraging short selling to increase long positions.

References

External links

Technomart Investment AdvisorsShoreteX
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parnes, Joseph 1946 births Living people American finance and investment writers American money managers American financial analysts Businesspeople from Baltimore Stock and commodity market managers University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni People from Kermanshah Iranian Jews Iranian emigrants to the United States American people of Iranian-Jewish descent