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Eliot Spitzer, meet Henry Blodget!

In his book The Wall Street Self-Defense Manual, disgraced former Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) internet stock analyst Henry Blodget explained his downfall this way:

If missing the top had been my only mistake, I would have survived . . . I also made a more serious mistake, however, which was to write a lot of emotional unprofessional e-mails, especially during the heat of the crash. Later, amid the wreckage, when the press, public, and regulators began calling for blood, my emails did me in . . . I was accused by New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer of having made remarks in e-mails that were "inconsistent" with my research (popular translation: "privately trashing stocks he was public recommending"). Along with others, I agreed to pay a humongous fine and be barred from the industry.

Cue the ironic music: Blodget has since experienced a comeback of sorts a blogger and columnist for Slate.com. Now that Spitzer's career is over after a gigantic scandal and guess where he'll be writing a column? Yep: at Slate.com with old friend. Is Slate planning to sell tickets to its Christmas party? Perhaps they could auction them off to raise money for people who lost money in the NASDAQ bubble, or perhaps pay for counseling for former prostitutes, or both.

Best & Worst: YouTube's journey from niche video site to $1.65 billion Web wonder

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2006. Vote for YouTube as the up and comer of 2006, or check out the other nominees in the category.

My six year old and I share a fascination for YouTube, the viral video-sharing site that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) recently acquired for $1.65 billion. I got interested in the site last April after I read an article in Slate about the lip-syncing phenomenon on YouTube and then shared a few videos mentioned with my daughter.

We quickly became fans of the Two Chinese Boys and then went on to look at other Chinese music videos (this is a really catchy tune). I've been able to introduce her to Elvis in all his Las Vegas glory, early R.E.M., and just today, Donny and Marie. That reminds me, I bet there are some Captain and Tennille videos I should dig up to show her as well ...

Just in writing this post, we've ended up yet again as a family gathering around the computer viewing choice items found on YouTube. My husband just walked away frustrated once more that we wouldn't spend more time searching out game-winning shots from famous basketball games from the 1970s.

Continue reading Best & Worst: YouTube's journey from niche video site to $1.65 billion Web wonder

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Last updated: February 13, 2012: 03:51 PM

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