MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2008--Piper Jaffray equity research analysts took top honors in the Wall Street Journal's 2008 Best on the Street Analysts Survey. Four equity research analysts were recognized with five awards in this year's survey, resulting in a 14th place ranking overall for Piper Jaffray.

This year, the Wall Street Journal chose 220 award winners in 45 industry groups from more than 1,700 eligible analysts. The top five stock pickers in each industry were ranked based on their recommendation-performance scores for 2007, while firms were ranked according to the total number of awards their analysts earned in the survey.

The 2008 Best on the Street analysts from Piper Jaffray include:

• Jeff Klinefelter, ranked No. 3 in the Clothing & Accessories sector
• Mark Marostica, ranked No. 4 in the Specialty Retailers & Services sector
• Jesse Pichel, ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the Electronic & Electrical Equipment and Semiconductor-Equipment Mfg. sectors, respectively
• Caroline Stewart, ranked No. 4 in the Biotechnology sector

This is Klinefelter's second appearance in the annual survey. Klinefelter, who joined Piper Jaffray in 1997, follows retail companies focusing on specialty retailing, youth/teens, mass merchandising, and apparel and footwear brands.

Marostica appears as a Best on the Street analyst for the third time. He covers outsourcing and learning services companies for Piper Jaffray, including IT services and business process outsourcing, postsecondary education, K-12, and professional development companies.

Pichel makes his first appearance as a Best on the Street analyst and was also featured in the "Top Guns' Top Picks in 2007" ranking, which encompasses the best recommendations of the 10 top-performing No. 1 analysts in this year's survey. His best call was a buy rating for seven months last year on Hoku Scientific Inc., which placed him second in the ranking. Pichel covers clean technology and renewables with a focus on solar power, and has been recognized by StarMine as a top equity research analyst in the semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, and electrical equipment industries.

Stewart also makes her first appearance as a Best on the Street analyst in this year's survey and focuses on companies in the biotechnology sector at Piper Jaffray.

"This recognition is a great example of how our investment research team is fully dedicated to continually providing Piper Jaffray clients with proprietary and unique research, as well as high-quality stock analysis across various industries," said Joel Denney, head of investment research at Piper Jaffray.

About Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray Companies is a leading, international middle-market investment bank and institutional securities firm, serving the needs of middle-market corporations, private equity groups, public entities, nonprofit clients and institutional investors. Founded in 1895, Piper Jaffray provides a comprehensive set of products and services, including equity and debt capital markets products; public finance services; mergers and acquisitions advisory services; high-yield and structured products; institutional equity and fixed-income sales and trading; and equity and high-yield research. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Piper Jaffray has 25 offices across the United States and international locations in London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Piper Jaffray & Co. is the firm's principal operating subsidiary. (NYSE: PJC) (http://www.piperjaffray.com)

Since 1895. Member SIPC and FINRA.

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CONTACT: Piper Jaffray Media Relations: Andrea Young, 612 303-6697

SOURCE: Piper Jaffray