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To: Dr. David Gleitman who wrote (77478)	11/10/1998 8:47:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Don't trust the bastards is all I am saying. No kiddin' David good for you,never used one myself. Trust the bastards at your own risk is what I say.<vbg> =========================================== Judge Approves $1 Billion NASDAQ Price-Fixing Settlement Updated 9.43 p.m. ET (0243 GMT) November 9, 1998 By Larry Neumeister (courtesy-fox) NEW YORK — A federal judge Monday approved a record $1.03 billion settlement of a class-action lawsuit by investors who accused 37 brokerages of overcharging them for NASDAQ-listed stocks in a price-rigging conspiracy that resulted in a government crackdown. "There can be no doubt that this class action would be enormously expensive to continue, extraordinarily complex to try and ultimately uncertain of result," U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet wrote, estimating the trial alone could last more than a year. He described in his 66-page ruling how an article written by two professors had led to more than two dozen investor lawsuits and a federal investigation that ultimately changed the computerized market. The article, "Why do NASDAQ Market Makers Avoid Odd Eighth Quotes," by William G. Christie and Paul H. Schultz, was published in "The Journal of Finance." "This record-breaking result was achieved against formidable opposition," Sweet said, describing obstacles to a deal that is the largest civil antitrust settlement in history. A plan for distribution has yet to be decided upon. David J. Bershad, the lead settlement negotiator for the plaintiffs, said the lawyers expect to have a plan in place by early next year to distribute the money. He said claims must be filed to be eligible for payouts, but that it was hoped that claims could be filed directly over the Internet. Sweet said the lawsuits, which were ultimately combined in the class-action in Manhattan, were greeted in 1994 by skepticism from some world renowned economists, journalists and defense lawyers. The price-fixing allegations caught the interest of the federal government, leading to an April 22, 1996 consent decree that forced permanent changes in the operation of the NASDAQ, the nation's second-largest stock market. The companies making payouts in the deal approved Monday include the biggest names in the securities world — Merrill Lynch & Co., Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Salomon Smith Barney Inc. The firms denied any wrongdoing. They were represented, the judge noted, by "three dozen of the nation's biggest and best defense firms operating on a seemingly unlimited budget over a period of four years." The judge awarded fees totaling $143 million for the lawyers representing more than 1 million individuals and institutions who were members of the class who bought or sold shares from May 1, 1989 to May 24, 1994. The government had alleged that NASDAQ dealers engaged in a widespread practice of quoting stocks for customers to the nearest quarter of a dollar rather than the nearest eighth, thus giving themselves extra profits.