When Brevity Is the Soul of Wall Street Research

The gloom over Wall Street in recent days has prompted lots of commentary from analysts trying to make sense of the markets.

But for one analyst, a single word did the trick on Monday: “Sell.”

That was the content of a research note that Carter Braxton Worth, chief market technician at Oppenheimer, sent to clients Monday morning. No elaboration, no qualification. Just, sell.

“We have no new thoughts,” Mr. Worth’s note said.

Investors have been on edge since Wednesday, when Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, described how the central bank would reduce the stimulus it has pumped into the financial system. That set off a wave of selling in markets around the world, causing stocks, bonds and other investments to tumble in value.

The jitters continued on Monday, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index down 1.2 percent. United States government bond prices, however, pared some losses during the day.

The movements were stark. “The charts on the pages that follow speak for themselves,” Mr. Worth wrote in his research note.

As promised, the subsequent pages featured charts of stocks, commodities and other assets, meant to illustrate the bearish sentiment that has recently taken hold.

The research note stood out for its brevity. Typically, analysts spend paragraphs and even pages expounding on market and economic indicators for the benefit of their clients.

But the pithiness of Mr. Worth’s note moved one blogger, the investment adviser Joshua M. Brown, to declare it the “Greatest. Research Note. Ever.”

“At some point there is no point… in saying anything more,” Mr. Worth wrote.

C.B. Worth - "Money in Motion"