HARD-KNOCK RULING

Moral:

Investors who lost a pile onInternet stocks and other tech issuesin the late 1990s received no sympathyfrom US District Court JudgeMilton Pollack, who recently dismisseda suit against Merrill Lynchand its former analyst HenryBlodgett. The 96-year-old New Yorkfederal judge called investors whofollowed the counsel of stock analystshyping Internet stocks "high-riskspeculators" who should have knownthe risk of investing in "extremelyvulnerable and highly untested" investments.The lawsuits brought bythe so-called victims, Judge Pollacksaid, are an attempt to twist federalsecurities laws into a "scheme of cost-freespeculators' insurance."Investors are ultimately responsiblefor their financial decisions.