http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/30/b...&en=d212c64eafc2e786&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER "The $387.5 million comes from the $1.4 billion total settlement, which includes $487.5 million in penalties, $432.5 million to finance independent research and $80 million for investor education." Are these "independant" research sub-divisions of the same brokers whaarf whaarf whaarf ! Oh I forgot the 80 million fr investor "education" ... what next brainwashing are they preparing in this "new" education package
Comprehensive independant research already exists- It's called Value Line. I have no idea why anyone would take brokerage house recommendations seriously.
The whole thing is surreal when you consider the money lost by investors relying on the brokers for advice, not knowing it was pure b.s.. I read where ML will recoup their share of the settlement in THREE WEEKS. Crime DOES pay, at least on Wall Street.
Arnie, You are so right. It's hard to blame Spitzer, since he was the only person to do anything at all, but this settlement is an insult. I hear the feeling on Wall Street is that it is very unfair and that investors are whining about market risk. We know what a crock that is. The heads of these firms plus many of the analysts should have been criminally prosecuted. I believe most if not all of the major firms, certainly Merrill and Morgan, should have been forced out of business. They did it to Drexel for far less, but then Drexel upset corporate America with its aggressive takeover financing. I have felt for a long time that the class action bar were a bunch of parasites, but I would really like to see them tear these firms apart. Certainly it'll be a cold day in hell when the SEC or the exchanges do anything.
Fundamental research is an illusion for individual investors. If you want stocks picked by fundamentals, you are better off with Fidelity or some other fund. You will never duplicate their research capabilities or access.
Elliot Spitzer is a great exthortionist. You think he could care less about the average investor? The gov. as always needs to find a way to take money from people. - BMW
The analysts that are accused can be faultive for sure but above all the firms are. In France a analyst said that he tried to emit an honest opinion about the emissions of new bonds by a client and that his department's chief told him that if he didn't want to change his mind he could just take a junior analyst that will do it and he be sacked . In France also the banks are saying that they would create an ethic card for INDEPENDANT analysts - whereas their own analysts would not need this ethic cards - but the problem as I showed above is less the analysts themselves than their employers since their employers are also the experts for law the core of the problem is there. So all that noise is just a marketing stuff for public to come back with their money but nothing will really change. LAW is out of touch for the huge majority of people that's THE mean they use to impose silly things to this majority.