In Focus
April 22, 2002
ew York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's legal action against Merrill Lynch has shocked the brokerage community and is, as the attorney general's press release accurately noted, "a shocking betrayal of trust by one of Wall Street's most trusted names".
Two questions come to mind. First, will Merrill Lynch halt its advertisements, which appear everywhere, proclaiming:
Review Your Market Outlook ...
The first step is to ask your Financial Advisor about the latest research from our award-winning team of more than 800 analysts worldwide ….
I wonder. The second question is how well Merrill's Financial Advisors are coping in answering, undoubtedly, the thousands of telephone calls expressing concern (outrage?) about the award-winning research. I suspect most Merrill brokers were in the dark about the rank deception perpetrated by Merrill's analysts.
But those investors who purchased Aether Systems, Excite, GoTo.com, InfoSpace, Internet Capital Group, Lifeminders and 24/7 Media, (all Merrill buys publicly, but privately were "junk", "crap", "s____") are entitled to recover their investment losses as against Merrill Lynch.
— James J. Eccleston
FinancialCounsel.com
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