Even though I am a stock broker myself, I have to confess that nobody really likes stock brokers. While our cousins, the investment bankers, are seen as prosperous, powerful dealmakers, we brokers are seen as a scruffy bunch of hustlers. Furthermore, given the extent of the economic downturn over the past four years, it has become fashionable to say that “stock broking is a structurally challenged industry”. Prima facie, the underlying reasons for the sluggish volumes and falling revenues of the industry are easy to see — competition is intense; investors have lost faith in equities; the internet might be disintermediating the conventional bricks and mortar stock broker; and the cost of keeping up with the latest technology is considerable. Since most investors believe all of this, it is not surprising that the share prices of broking firms are down by 80% from their peaks in early 2008. And that, for a contrarian investor like me, is good news.