Even the federal reserve's chairman beliefed the analysts, which lately is a cause of great merriment. In his Feb. 17, 2000 testimony before the Senate, Alan Greenspan spoke glowingly of the economy's miraculous growth and the ever-higher earnings estimates that analysts foresaw. And he sure wasn't alone in genuflecting before the best research Wall Street could provide. Well, as Greenspan and the rest of us have learned since, analysts are hardly deities. They had to take a remedial course in business ethics from Eliot Spitzer, of all people. Citigroup is offering to wall off analysts formally from contact with its investment bankers; the Securities & Exchange Commission may mandate this sort of separation on Wall Street.
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