PJC Piper Jaffray Companies

MINNEAPOLIS, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Piper Jaffray & Co. is pleased to announce that six senior research analysts were ranked in the Forbes.com/StarMine rankings for top equity research analysts. The annual Forbes.com/StarMine rankings sort brokerage analysts in to two categories: picking stocks and predicting earnings. In producing the rankings, StarMine considered only earnings estimates and stock recommendations made for U.S. companies during calendar year 2005. In the stock-picking category, the following three analysts received honors: -- Thomas Wei in the biotechnology industry (No. 1 overall in this industry) -- Jeff Klinefelter in the textiles apparel and luxury goods industry (No. 1 overall in this industry) -- Bob Napoli in the consumer finance industry (No. 2 overall in this industry) For earnings accuracy category, the following analysts were recognized: -- Aaron Kessler in the Internet and catalog retail industry (No. 1 overall in this sector) -- Safa Rashtchy in the Internet and catalog retail industry (No. 2 overall in this industry) -- Tony Gikas in the leisure equipment and products industry (No. 3 overall in this industry) "We are honored to have these six analysts recognized for their earnings accuracy and stock-picking talents in this year's Forbes.com/StarMine rankings," said Joel Denney, head of Investment Research at Piper Jaffray. "We believe this achievement demonstrates our commitment to providing industry-leading, in-depth and proprietary research analysis for our clients." Piper Jaffray & Co. is the chief operating subsidiary of Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC), a focused securities firm dedicated to delivering superior financial advice, investment products and transaction execution within selected sectors of the financial services marketplace. The company currently operates through two primary revenue-generating segments: Capital Markets and Private Client Services. The sale of the company's Private Client Services branch network, announced April 11, 2006, currently is pending. The company's Capital Markets business generates revenue through two groups: Corporate and Institutional Services and Public Finance Services. Through its chief operating subsidiary, Piper Jaffray & Co., the firm has served corporations, government and nonprofit entities, institutional investors and the financial advisory needs of private individuals since 1895. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has approximately 2,800 employees in 107 offices in 23 states across the country and in London. For more information about Piper Jaffray, visit us online at http://www.piperjaffray.com/ . Since 1895. Member SIPC and NYSE. DATASOURCE: Piper Jaffray & Co. CONTACT: Susan Beatty, Media Relations of Piper Jaffray, +1-612-303-5680 Web site: http://www.piperjaffray.com/

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