1st Call's Error Prevents Schwab from Posting Research on Web Site

Charles Schwab & Co.'s plan to display research from full-service brokerage firms on its Web site fell through last week because of a misstep by financial data provider First Call Inc.

Boston-based First Call Inc. is a subsidiary of Thomson Corp., which also owns American Banker.

San Francisco-based Schwab had planned to post on a new Internet service, Analyst Center, other brokerage firms' research as collected by First Call. First Call had not cleared the release of the information with the brokerage firms before entering the contract with Schwab.

Some firms, including Merrill Lynch & Co., reportedly voiced objections, so Schwab said at the last minute that it would not post that research on the site. The service went into operation last week.

First Call takes full responsibility for the upset, a spokeswoman said. "We apologize to Schwab and to their customers,"she added.

A Schwab spokesman said that the contract was for 33 reports per month, which would have been among "10,000 pieces of data" on the Analyst Center.

"The Analyst Center is still alive and well," said the Schwab spokesman. He said investors can still access consensus earnings estimates on 6,000 companies, and interviews with industry experts, among other services.

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