me on April 10:

in other words, Merrill's media darlings (like Henry "Amazon @ $400" Blodgett) would publicly be giving the thumbs up to companies like 24/7 Media, while privately calling the stock "a piece of shit." the juicy details are available in an affidavit Spitzer filed in support of their request for a court order.

the Economist on April 17:

One company, 24/7 Media, was rated a “short-term and long-term accumulate” by Merrill. Privately, Henry Blodget, Merrill’s star analyst of Internet shares, more succinctly judged it a “piece of shit”. Merrill says the e-mails were “taken out of context”.

kudos to me for getting there first. kudos to the Economist for spelling Blodget right. i win, 1:1.