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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: who cares? who wrote (10324)	8/20/2002 2:14:21 PM
From: Deeber	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 19428

Excellent point...LOL...then I did a lot for other people the last few years!

To: who cares? who wrote (10324)	8/21/2002 5:26:44 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Merrill's Fired Analyst Says He's Made a `Scapegoat' (Update1) By Stephen Cohen New York, Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Peter Caruso, fired yesterday for allegedly disclosing to some investors that he planned to lower his profit estimates on Home Depot Inc., said he did nothing wrong and blamed a Merrill salesperson for tipping clients. Shares of the home-improvement retailer fell 7.4 percent on July 12, when Caruso's report was published. Caruso said he told clients at a July 11 lunch meeting that he expected Home Depot to report sluggish sales. The 20-year Merrill veteran said he never indicated he would lower his rating or estimates the next day. ``It was unethical of Merrill Lynch to terminate me,'' the 44- year-old analyst said in a telephone interview. ``They're using me as a scapegoat to cover up what's going on here.'' Merrill's decision to fire Caruso, ranked No. 1 among retail industry analysts by Institutional Investor magazine for the past five years, is an effort to avoid potential liability for investor losses from the alleged activities of analysts, some legal experts say. Wall Street firms have been more focused on how analysts do their jobs since lawmakers and regulators began investigating the role recommendations played in the bull market and subsequent collapse in stocks. In May, Merrill agreed to pay $100 million and change some of its research practices to settle charges by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer said some Merrill analysts, including Internet analyst Henry Blodget, published biased reports to help win and retain investment-banking assignments. `Holier Than Thou' Tim Cobb, a spokesman for Merrill, the biggest securities firm by capital, said Caruso broke the rules. ``We completed a thorough investigation and stand behind our conclusions,'' said Cobb. Caruso said a Merrill salesperson at the lunch interpreted his comments as a sign he would cut his forecasts and alerted institutional investors, including some at Merrill's asset management division. He declined to identify the salesperson. Cobb declined to comment on whether Merrill Lynch Investment Management sold Home Depot shares based on the salesperson's tip before Caruso's report was published. Any sign that analysts may have given some investors preferential treatment is likely to prompt a response by the firm, said Columbia University law professor John Coffee. ``In the current era, I think everyone is moving to a holier- than-thou sense,'' Coffee said. ``It's particularly important for the biggest firms, which are facing scrutiny, to be aggressive in handling these issues.'' Home Depot shares fell 5.6 percent on July 11, the day Caruso met with investors. Home Depot spokesman Jerry Shields declined to comment. Robert McCann, head of research at Merrill, told Caruso he was being terminated for indicating his plans to investors, the analyst said. Merrill is a passive, minority investor in Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.