Market makers are in turn widening their spreads, he added, and that harms investors who sell at lower prices and buy at higher prices.

Merrill Lynch failed to reasonably supervise these financial advisers, whose market timing siphoned short-term profits out of mutual funds and harmed long-term investors.

Such trades force fund managers to buy and sell securities, driving up the fund's costs and harming long-term investors.

The Big Board said that permitting traders to opt out would harm investors and hurt the markets.

The Securities Industry Association, a trade organization representing investment bankers, said the new law would actually harm investors.

While the symbiotic relationship between Wall Street research analysts and investment bankers harmed investors, it was beneficial to the firms.

He also faces shareholder lawsuits accusing him of harming investors by making statements that drove up HealthSouth stock.

Today the utility's officials reiterated that they would not accept any changes in the agreement that potentially harmed investors.

We can say this appears to be a very severe conflict of interest involving an offer or that could harm investors.

As a columnist and reporter covering Wall Street, I am often writing about brokers behaving badly or industry practices that harm investors.