THIRD TEAM

Sohail (Sal) Tharani  Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Sohail (Sal) Tharani of Goldman, Sachs & Co. rises one notch to third place. “Although we’re a small account, he is unfailingly helpful and never arrogant or dismissive, as some other analysts can be,” asserts one grateful client. In September 2010, Tharani upgraded Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold from neutral to buy, at a split-adjusted $38.44, partly on reductions in global copper production, which Tharani believed would support higher pricing. He was right: By early February copper was trading on the London metal exchange at a record high of $9,985 per metric ton; the price slipped to $9,130 per metric ton in late August. Phoenix-based Freeport’s stock had climbed 22.6 percent, to $47.11, by the end of that month, besting the sector by 16.2 percentage points since Tharani’s upgrade.