Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Abhijit Chakrabortti, Wall Street's most bearish stock strategist the last two years, resigned from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to become Morgan Stanley's chief global and U.S. equity strategist.

Chakrabortti, 39, replaces Henry McVey, who quit in June to join hedge-fund manager Fortress Investment Group LLC, according to Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Jennifer Sala. Chakrabortti stepped down as JPMorgan's top equity strategist on Aug. 17.

Morgan Stanley's hire follows a worldwide swoon in equity markets that made Chakrabortti's pessimism look prescient. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has lost 6.9 percent since July 19, putting the measure below his year-end forecast.

``The strategist job at Morgan Stanley to me is a lot like playing center field for the Yankees,'' said Doug Peta, market strategist at J&W Seligman & Co. in New York, which oversees about $20 billion. ``It makes sense that they made a prominent hire here, and Abhijit is certainly a prominent name.''

Former Morgan Stanley chief strategists include Byron Wien, now market strategist at the $7 billion hedge fund Pequot Capital Management Inc., and Barton Biggs, who runs the $1.5 billion hedge fund Traxis Partners LLC.

The S&P 500 has retreated to 1,445.55 after setting a record 1,553.08 a month ago. Chakrabortti's 2007 forecast of 1,515 is the lowest among 13 strategists tracked by Bloomberg News. Alfred Goldman of A.G. Edwards and David Bianco of UBS AG share the highest estimate of 1,650.

Global Equities Decline

The Morgan Stanley Capital International All-Countries World Index, which covers developed and emerging markets around the globe, has retreated 9.3 percent from its July 13 peak on mounting concern that losses tied to subprime mortgages will curb economic growth.

Chakrabortti raised his year-end S&P 500 forecast in May from 1,440, his prediction at the start of the year. He was also the most pessimistic strategist in 2006, beginning the year with an S&P 500 forecast of 1,125 before increasing it to 1,190 in May and to 1,280 in October. The index rose 14 percent to 1,418.30 last year.

Other stock strategists have left Wall Street brokerages this year. Ajay Kapur, Citi Investment Research's former chief global equity strategist, resigned in February to create hedge fund First Horse Capital Ltd. Francois Trahan left Bear Stearns & Co. the same month to become head of portfolio strategy at ISI Group Inc., the New York-based investment research firm.

To contact the reporters on this story: Allen Wan in New York at awan3@bloomberg.net; Michael Patterson in New York at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 20, 2007 16:47 EDT