Briefly

A federal judge Wednesday tossed out eight more lawsuits that sought to hold Merrill Lynch & Co. responsible for investor losses during the Internet stock bubble. U.S. District Judge Milton Pollack in New York said he found no evidence that Merrill had intended to defraud its investors, and he said regulators were well aware of potential conflicts of interest involving brokerage analysts.

Pollack already has dismissed several suits filed by investors who claim that misleading reports by Merrill analysts led to inflated Internet stock prices during the late 1990s.