10/02/02 - MunicipalBonds.com and Milberg Weiss Files Lawsuit Against Major Wall Street Brokerages for Unfair Pricing of Municipal Bonds.

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BW0079  OCT 10,2002       5:01 PACIFIC      08:01 EASTERN

( BW)(CA-MILBERG-WEISS/MUNICIPALBONDS.COM) MunicipalBonds.com Worst Municipal Bond Market Spreads for 3rd Quarter 2002

Business Editors/Financial Analysts

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2002--MunicipalBonds.com today publicly releases its study of MSRB data revealing the worst municipal bond spreads for the 3rd Quarter 2002. According to MunicipalBonds.com, this time the worst offender is 70 points and hails from the State of Illinois. Below is a partial listing from the study demonstrating their top ten worst spreads in the Municipal Bond market for the 3rd Quarter 2002:


                                               Best     Best    Spread
Date          CUSIP    Municipal Bond Name / (Highest) (Lowest)
                       Description             Bid      Offer
---------- ----------- --------------------- --------- -------- ------
07/25/2002 167590-DN-5 CHICAGO ILL O HARE     29.500   100.000  70.500
                       INTL ARPT SPL FAC REV
                       REF-UTD AIR LINES INC
                       PJ-SER A

07/10/2002 575895-ET-0 MASSACHUSETTS ST PORT 109.000   155.020  46.020
                       AUTH REV

08/26/2002 051558-AD-6 AURORA COLO HSG AUTH   74.080   100.000  25.920
                       MULTIFAMILY REV
                       HSG-SUB-RIVER FALLS
                       PROJ-C

07/26/2002 533406-BN-3 LINCOLN CNTY S D REV   56.750   82.500   25.750
                       AMERICAN BAPTIST
                       HOMES PROJ

07/26/2002 533406-BM-5 LINCOLN CNTY S D REV   56.750   82.500   25.750
                       AMERICAN BAPTIST
                       HOMES PROJ

07/10/2002 207752-AS-5 CONNECTICUT ST MUN    100.100   124.258  24.158
                       ELEC ENERGY COOP PWR
                       SUPPLY SYS REV

09/12/2002 140426-AG-2 CAPITAL PROJS FIN      72.325   96.300   23.975
                       AUTH FLA SOLID WASTE
                       DISP REV CAP PJS LN
                       PG-WCA FLA-SER C

09/04/2002 240471-EF-5 DEKALB CNTY GA HSG     71.500   95.048   23.548
                       AUTH MULTI FAMILY HSG
                       REV REGENCY WOODS
                       PJ-SR-SER A

09/23/2002 01852L-AA-8 ALLIANCE ARPT AUTH     39.520   61.000   21.480
                       INC TEX SPL FACS REV
                       AMERICAN AIRLINES INC
                       PROJ

09/18/2002 01852L-AB-6 ALLIANCE ARPT AUTH     48.750   67.763   19.013
                       INC TEX SPL FACS REV
                       AMERICAN AIRLS INC
                       PROJ

    Such spread are indicative of the huge and unfair bond spreads being imposed upon retail Municipal Bond customers in this market. With this continued proof of unfair markets within the Municipal Bond industry, MunicipalBonds.com will continue to advocate and work to actualize "fair pricing" in the Municipal Bond markets. Our Red Flag reports and Worst Spread studies make it apparent that something must be done. A copy of the full study is available at http://www.MunicipalBonds.com/redflag/report2002Q3.html. Previously, Municipal Bonds released studies of the Worst Spreads of 2nd Quarter 2002, Worst Spreads of 1st Quarter 2002, Worst Spreads of 2001 and the Worst Spreads of 2000 that are also available on the site.

    Have You Been Treated Fairly?

    For purchasers or sellers of Municipal Bonds, MunicipalBonds.com has joined forces with Milberg Weiss to offer a free Internet evaluation of your transaction to help you determine whether your broker gave you a fair price. This service is available at http://www.MunicipalBonds.com.

    Background:

    MunicipalBonds.com is a public service information site dedicated to 1) publicizing and actualizing price transparency and fair pricing in the Municipal Bond markets, as well as 2) advocating and actualizing fair disclosure of Municipal Bond disclosure information -- hopefully through development of the long called for "centralized database." On September 16, 2002, Kevin Olson of MunicipalBonds.com represented by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP announced the filing of a private attorney general lawsuit against the major Wall Street brokerages for unfair and unreasonable fees in sale of Municipal Bonds. Defendants in the case are Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER), Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., UBS Paine Webber, Inc., Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BSC), Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., Prudential Securities, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (NYSE: SCH), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC).

--30--jv/sd* dw/sd CONTACT: MunicipalBonds.com Kevin Olson, 415/922-7870 Kevin@MunicipalBonds.com http://www.municipalbonds.com or Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP Stan Mallison, 415/288-4545 StanM@MWBHL.com http://www.milberg.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING LEGAL/LAW SOURCE: MunicipalBonds.com