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To: Ibexx who wrote (129009)	3/3/2001 11:57:56 PM
From: The Duke of URL©	Respond to of 186894

The big hourses need to address the issue of conflict of interests one of these days, by law, ethics, or just out of good business sense One of the allegations of the class action complaint, I have heard, is failure to disclose that Merrill Lynch NEEDED to maintain the price on the stock of infospace. I am sure there is general boilerplate language in the documents. But incomplete disclosure is more deceptive than no disclosure. This, if true, may be Fraud, not "conflict of interest". And there is that continuing SEC investigation involving kickbacks. I am pretty sure that information that Blodgett has would be very useful to all parties. Who knows, this case might prove the inadequacy of Mandatory Arbitration. It would be very easy for a court to hold that those boiler plate documents are not a valid waiver of legal rights.

To: Ibexx who wrote (129009)	3/4/2001 9:52:45 AM
From: Bob Kim	Respond to of 186894

Ibexx, Present employees should not be commenting on ML on message boards. BTW, the writer mentioned the issue of Microsoft being a choice added assignment. Since 1995, Microsoft has been followed by 5 different analysts. During that time, I believe three of the five have taken over existing coverage. (Blodget is the third.) Two out of the three are no longer analysts at Merrill. If changes in coverage responsibility are supposed to be a big deal, then the writer might have mentioned that Blodget has been dropped as lead analyst on about a dozen stocks.

To: Ibexx who wrote (129009)	3/4/2001 2:51:46 PM
From: The Duke of URL©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Semi OT? Nah, a lot of these new Rocka Rockas just take investor money from the "better" companies like INTeL. XX-- here is a report of that Class Action Law Suit by daltonthedobbler, from the RB thread: Merrill analyst named in lawsuit claiming stock fraud By Christopher Grimes in New York Published: March 2 2001 20:14GMT \| Last Updated: March 2 2001 22:46GMT A New York doctor has filed a lawsuit against Merrill Lynch and some of its employees, including internet analyst Henry Blodget, claiming he was misled by recommendations on two stocks, InfoSpace and JDS Uniphase. The suit seeks $10m in punitive damages for Debases Kanjilal, a 46-year-old pediatrician, and could be the first to name Wall Street analysts and brokers over stock recommendations. But it may not be the last, given the backlash against analysts in the wake of the internet sector's decline. Mr Kanjilal's attorney, Jacob Zamansky, said he hoped to use the case as a "blueprint" for similar suits against other analysts. "The analysts pumped up this tech bubble and left investors holding the bag," Mr Zamansky said. "I would expect to see more suits of this nature." Merrill Lynch said it believed the claim was "without merit" and that the firm stood behind its stock research. "These were unsolicited orders and the clients were treated as they wanted to be treated, and that was as sophisticated [investors]," a Merrill spokesman said. In naming Mr Blodget so prominently throughout the claim, the suit is taking on one of the analysts most closely identified with internet stocks. The suit alleges that Mr Kanjilal suffered "losses as a result of systematic fraud by stock analysts which occurs on an industry-wide basis". It also claims that Mr Blodget failed to disclose that Merrill was doing investment banking work for Go2Net, which was in talks to acquire InfoSpace. "Merrill Lynch stood to lose its huge investment banking fees if InfoSpace's stock price fell before the deal closed - a material fact which was never disclosed." Merrill said its clients were well informed of the risks involved in purchasing internet stocks. Merrill uses an alphabetic rating system, with A signifying the lowest risk and D signifying the highest risk. "Virtually all of Henry Blodget's internet recommendations have carried a D, the highest risk rating," a Merrill spokesman said. "Henry Blodget was on record two years ago saying that 75 per cent of all internet stocks would fail and cautioning that only a small portion of portfolios consist of high-risk internet stocks." Mr Blodget, who was travelling and did not return a call for comment, has stated in the past that he should have downgraded some internet stocks sooner. Merrill says it stands behind Mr Blodget's research. The suit claims that Mr Kanjilal based his investments in part on recommendations from a Merrill Lynch broker, Michael Healy, who is also named in the lawsuit.