Wall Streets Analysts?
Stock Analysts Merrill Lynch Chief Executive David Komansky apologized on one Friday for the now-notorious emails in which Merrill analysts disparaged stocks that they were simultaneously plugging to investors. “The emails that have come to light are very distressing and disappointing to us,” Komansky told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting. “They fall far short of our professional standards, and some are inconsistent with our policies.” The messages were uncovered early this month in an investigation of analyst conflicts of interest by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. In July of last year, Spitzer began investigating Wall Street brokerages, seeking evidence that their equity analysts wrote favorable research reports on stocks in order to obtain investment banking business. Many investors got burned heeding the analysts’ buy recommendations even as the shares plummeted, sometimes to zero. Merrill has already agreed with New York state to increase disclosure on its ana
