AETH Aether

Notice to All Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. Customers From the Securities Arbitration Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A. BOCA RATON, Fla., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A. ("K&T")( http://www.nasd-law.com/ ), representing numerous Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. ("Merrill") customers, a unit of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MER), continues to investigate and pursue securities arbitration claims on their behalf. A significant number of these claims were filed before the National Association of Securities Dealers ("NASD") and the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") following a court order issued by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on April 8, 2002, in which Merrill's "supposedly independent and objective investment advice" was found to be "tainted and biased by the desire to aid Merrill's investment banking business." As a result, K&T has filed numerous claims on behalf of investors throughout the nation who have lost tens of millions of dollars as a result of Merrill's violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, state securities laws, common law fraud, breach of contractual and fiduciaries duties, and gross negligence. According to the investigation, internal emails demonstrated that Merrill's analysts privately disparaged companies they followed while publicly recommending investments in those companies' stocks. Of the 24 stocks pushed by Merrill and Henry Blodget, head of the company's internet research analyst group, some of the more notable stocks found within pending K&T securities arbitration claims are Aether Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:AETH), CMGI, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMGI), Internet Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICGE), and InfoSpace, Inc. (NASDAQ:INSP) to name a few. One such pending claim, NYSE Case No. 015615 against Merrill, is seeking compensatory damages of $4,000,000 for ICGE stock losses. In another pending case against Merrill, Case No. 03-011637, the Claimant is seeking compensatory damages of $1,325,000.00 in losses of CMGI, Inc. stock as well as other stocks pushed by Merrill. Consequently, as a result of the N.Y. Affidavit and the investigation against Merrill and other brokerage firms, K&T presently represents numerous similarly situated customers who have claims against Wall Street brokerage firms before the NYSE and the NASD worth over $300 million. The sole purpose of this release is to investigate, on behalf of our clients, sales practice violations of Merrill and their employees. Presently, K&T continues to represent several Merrill customers, as well as numerous others, who have claims against major Wall Street brokerage firms for securities violations including the misuse of margin, the misuse of stock option plans, failure to supervise, unsuitability claims, misrepresentation and material omissions of fact and excessive trading/churning of customers' accounts. K&T has offices in California, Florida, Nebraska and New York and represents investors throughout the nation. If you purchased some of the above mentioned stocks as a customer of Merrill Lynch, or if you wish to discuss this announcement or have information relevant to our securities arbitration claims, please contact Lawrence L. Klayman, Esquire of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., at 888-997-9956 or visit us on the web at http://www.nasd-law.com/ . DATASOURCE: Klayman & Toskes, P.A. CONTACT: Lawrence L. Klayman, Esquire of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., +1-888-997-9956 Web site: http://www.nasd-law.com/

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