Judge's ruling could affect reporting on analyst recommendations

A federal judge ruled Thursday that a financial Web site misappropriated the “time-sensitive recommendations” of several banks by immediately publishing news of analyst rating changes often before those recommendations are fully shared with clients, according to a Dow Jones Newswires story.

The move could affect when other financial news sites report such news.

Reporter Chad Bray writes, “‘It bears noting that it does not matter to the firms whether the unauthorized distribution is through a small Internet company like Fly or through media giants like Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters or Dow Jones,’ the judge said. ‘The damage is caused not by the identity of the publisher, but by the timely and systematic unauthorized redistribution of the firms’ recommendations, whatever the medium.’

“Dow Jones & Co. is a unit of News Corp. and the publisher of this newswire.

“Spokeswomen at Dow Jones, Reuters and Bloomberg all declined comment late Thursday.

“In her order, the judge noted at least one mainstream publisher of financial news has said it is watching the litigation closely and will adjust its practices based on its evaluation of the outcome of the litigation.”

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