Kevin Matras

Executive Vice President

Kevin authors the Screen of the Week column for zacks.com. His professional experience also includes more than 20 years as a stock trader, author of the book "Finding #1 Stocks" (published by Wiley), and editor of the trading service Options Trader.

Sheraz Mian

Director of Research

In his capacity at Zacks, Sheraz leads the 60-analyst equity research team covering over 1,000 stocks, including the entire S&P 500. He oversees the creation of all content on the Zacks.com home page as well as the various subscription services. He also manages the Zacks Focus List and Top 10 Stocks portfolios.

Prior to his elevation to the DOR position in 2009, Sheraz was a distinguished research analyst at Zacks for seven years, with a coverage focus on the oil sector. He started his equity research career at Goldman Sachs in New York as a research associate. Sheraz has an MBA degree from Northwesterns Kellogg School of Management.

John J. Blank, PhD

Chief Equity Strategist

As Chief Equity Strategist, John Blank, PhD, publishes weekly articles and monthly periodicals on the global financial markets for Zacks Premium subscribers and Zacks.com. He also manages Zacks Large-Cap Trader portfolio. He appears on television channels such as CNBC and has participated in a weekly Chicago radio talk show, Investing in Todays Markets, to discuss Zacks Macro, Zacks Market Strategy and Zacks Consensus Strategy reports. Finally, John advises Zacks Investment Management, with over $2 billion in assets, on global asset allocation.

Before joining Zacks, Dr. Blank served as Deputy Chief Economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. (LAEDC) where he spearheaded the Designed/Made in Los Angeles Initiative, a five-pronged approach to support LAs apparel industry, and now a model for the Presidents National Export Initiative.

He also served as SVP and Chief Sector/Industry equity strategist for Decision Economics, running their flagship office in Boston; and CEO of Media Derivatives, a start-up financial exchange that was CFTC approved in 2010. In Chicago for a number of years, he worked at CME Group, where he published a twice-a-month Fundamental Business Drivers in-depth economics piece; as industry economist for J.P. Morgan Chase in its Bank One Capital Markets group; and as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. He also helped establish an international economics practice for Ernst & Young LLP in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

He earned his PhD in economics from MIT in 1995, and a B.A. with honors and distinction in Mathematics for the Social Sciences and Economics at Northwestern University in 1988. He taught macroeconomics for two years at MIT. While serving on the faculty for one year at the University of California-Santa Cruz, he taught undergraduate math and econ courses, and a masters level course in international trade and development. He has published investing and global economics articles in a number of Institutional Investor journals, in the Blackwell Companion to the Economics of Housing, and a book, Markets for Credit: The State of Play in 2005.

Kevin Cook

Senior Stock Strategist

Kevin Cooks focus includes global-macro fundamental analysis and technical trading of stocks, indexes, commodities and options. The bulk of his markets experience was gained as an interbank currency trader for nine years, starting with the introduction of the euro in 1999. In 2011, he joined Zacks.com to further expand his equity analysis, research, and trading skills. He also manages Zacks TAZR and Healthcare Innovators portfolios.

Prior to joining Zacks, he worked with TheStreet.com as an options strategist for their subscription service Options Profits. Cook has also developed options education for the retail arm of the Chicago options powerhouse PEAK6, where he applied his special focus on the keys to success in short-term trading and the dynamics of probability and risk. His published analysis of heavy put option activity in big banks, before the financial crisis implosion, alerted investors to the inherent weakness that was being preyed upon. Cook is experienced in working with the media and is available for comment on a wide range of financial issues and trends.

David Bartosiak

Technical & Momentum Strategist

David Bartosiak has a decade of experience in the financial services industry. He has traded forex, futures, stocks and options. His unique brand of technical analysis known as "Bartosiastics" includes the "trend, trace, and trigger" technique to uncover short-term trading opportunities. He has also done extensive research regarding the relationship between monthly pivot points and the S&P 500.

David has a Bachelors of Science in Applied Mathematical Economics from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was awarded the Economics Faculty Award for his work on the immediate economic impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Prior to joining Zacks, he worked as an independent contractor Stock Broker with National Securities Corp.

Tracey Ryniec

Zacks Equity Strategist

Tracey Ryniec is a Zacks Equity Strategist. She manages the Value Investor and Insider Trader trading services. Prior to joining Zacks, she litigated complex securities and insurance cases representing tech titans and Fortune 100 companies in San Francisco and Silicon Valley at the law firms of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison -now defunct, a victim of the dot-com bust- and Cooley LLP. Having lived in the Bay Area during the dot-com boom, Tracey quickly realized she was more interested in stocks and the stock market, than in actually litigating her cases and she made a career changing move. She can now be happily found covering value stocks for Zacks.com in Chicago, in addition to running her trading service portfolios. She has appeared in Barrons, CNBC.com, and Marketwatch.

Tracey graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in history. She attended Princeton University where she studied in the Near Eastern Studies department before graduating with a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Armed with her advanced degree, she worked at the National Security Archive in Washington DC, on issues regarding the first Persian Gulf War. Tracey also holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. You can follow her tweets on her favorite obsessions which currently include the housing market, China, and great stock finds at @TraceyRyniec.

Brian Bolan

Aggressive Growth Stock Strategist

Brian Bolan has been an investment professional for more 15 years holding roles in equity research, investment banking and private equity investment and analysis. At Zacks, he manages Stocks Under $10 portfolio.

Having concentrated most of his career in equity research covering internet names prior to joining Zacks, Bolan earned a number of merit awards. Bolan was a research analyst for several small brokerage firms and was the Director of Research for Jackson Securities. Starting his career in the investment banking division of NatCity Investments, he was exposed to public and corporate finance before moving to research. While with Madison Securities, he expanded his background into the world of private equity while maintaining research of portfolio companies.

Neena Mishra, CFA, FRM

ETF Research Director

Prior to this position, Neena Mishra worked with Zacks for three years as a Senior Financial Services Analyst. Prior to that she worked with the Reserve Bank of India, the Indian equivalent of the Federal Reserve Board, supervising banks and managing the countrys foreign exchange reserves. She returned to Zacks in November 2011 after working as the Director of Equity Research with Forisk Consulting. Neena has a Master of Science (Physics) from Lucknow University, Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers and MBA from the University of Georgia (specialization in finance & investments).