The Wall Street Journal published its 21st annual "Best on the Street" list of top analysts last week.

Among the notable winners with local ties were Charlie Anderson, a former business journalist, who works for Minneapolis-based Dougherty & Company LLC and was top ranked in the "semiconductors industry.'' Christian Schwab, from Minneapolis-based Craig-Hallum Capital Group ranked tops among "semiconductor-equipment manufacturing'' analysts, and Sean Naughton, from Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray was tops in the "retailer: food and drug" category.

Others notables included Piper's Ted Tenthoff in the biotechnology industry; Chris Larsen for telecommunications (Tenthoff and Larsen both work out of Piper's New York office), and Ben Haynor from Minneapolis-based Feltl & Co. who covers medical equipment & supplies.

Naughton's top picks in 2012 included Vitamin Shoppe Inc. and Costco Wholesale. "There are not a lot of secrets," Naughton told the Journal of his performance in 2012. "It just comes down to hustling more."

The WSJ and its partner FactSet of Norwalk Conn., list the top three analysts in 44 industry categories based on their stock-picking skill.

Patrick Kennedy