Briefs

Feb 14, 2006, By Dane Hamilton

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Stock tracker Majestic Research doesn't talk to company executives or visit malls to get a handle on retail trends. Nor does it make stock recommendations.

But the New York-based research firm is winning converts among hedge funds who say its brand of Web-based quantitative analysis can be more accurate than traditional Wall Street research forecasts.

But instead of sales leads, Majestic uses Web data to track sales and forecast financial results for target companies - ahead of quarterly earnings releases.

Here is the rest of the story.