Merrill Pumping Individual Investors While It Was Dumping?

I've been particularly hard on Merrill this year. That's because there is ample evidence they have been one of the most egregious violators of investor's trust. If nothing else, the stock being down almost 80% should be an easy barometer. I don't know what will happen to Merrill but I do know they are in serious trouble. That said, if I spent all of my time posting every investigation into Wall Street's practices, this blog would be littered with thousands of posts on nothing more than a continual indictment of Wall Street. I have no intent to get involved in that minutia and you shouldn't either. It is irrelevant in the big picture of what is transpiring. I do find this Bloomberg article on auction-rate securities particularly vile - although this is simply par for the course in an industry rife with abhorrent behavior. It's time to throw the baby out with the bath water and that is exactly what is going to happen. Mark my word.