Wall Street's Loss Won't Be Your Gain

Securities regulators are about to carve their pound of flesh out of Wall Street. But if you lost money in the debacle of the last decade and think you're about to get something back, think again.

After months of dickering and negotiations, the nation's largest securities firms are about to sign off on terms and specific charges in a landmark settlement of charges that their stock research was warped to suit investment bankers rather than retail investors. The firms are expected to pony up a total of $1.4 billion to settle with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, say people familiar with negotiations.

In other words, the checks from Wall Street will soon be in the mail. But they won't be coming to you. Investors -- the main victims of the shoddy and conflicted research -- will get close to nothing from the much ballyhooed settlement. ...