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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carolyn who wrote (27125)	5/22/2002 12:29:39 PM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 28311

This man has no shame! Blodget still working on his book By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 10:38 AM ET May 22, 2002 SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Merrill Lynch is paying out a $100 million penalty and the man whose e-mail exchanges were at the center of the scandal is still working on his book. Henry Blodget, Merrill Lynch's (MER) Internet bull who signed on with Random House to write a book about the Internet bubble is still on track to write his book. "He's working on it," said Random House spokesperson Tom Perry. The controversy surrounding Merrill Lynch, however, appears to at least have postponed the release date. Blodget's tome is not on Random House's spring 2003 schedule of books to be released, according to Perry. Yet earlier this year, Blodget said he was working diligently to finish his book by this summer. Perry would not comment on whether the content of the book -- which Blodget said he's been working on for well over two years -- has changed in light of the e-mail exchanges and the investigation into Merrill's practices. Blodget was not immediately available to comment about the status of his book or whether the content had changed in light of the e-mail exchanges. On Tuesday, Merrill Lynch reached a settlement with New York over charges that its analysts misled investors by hyping stocks of companies whose business the investment bank wanted. The New York attorney general's case against Merrill Lynch is mainly based on a sworn affidavit that cites e-mail exchanges in which Blodget disparages some Internet stocks in private while he was recommending them to investors in public. Several companies were cited in the e-mails, including InfoSpace (INSP) and Goto.com, now known as Overture Services (OVER). Blodget, 35 and recently married, rode the Internet boom to fame and wealth before the bubble burst in April 2000. At the height of his influence and popularity, or immediately after he made his audacious, market-moving call on Amazon.com (AMZN), Blodget began to write his book. Even if his credibility is low, there is still a lot of interest in what he has to say, provided that Blodget is candid, some say. "If he were candid about what he was thinking as the events unfolding, it would still be interested to read about his role and his perspective about the bubble," said Eric Von Der Porten, a portfolio manager at Leeward Investments. "Frankly, I'd be shocked if the book ever got published because there is too much liability." "As long as he's candid, people will be somewhat intrigued because of his front row seat and his notoriety," said Scott Cleland, CEO of independent research firm Precursor Group based in Washington D.C. Then again, others only sneer at the idea of a book from someone whose integrity has been call into question. A former analyst quipped that he'd only read the book if it were titled: "Dr StrangeStock, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dot.Bomb." Bambi Francisco is Internet editor of CBS.MarketWatch.com, based in San Francisco.