By: Business reporter Herb Greenberg said Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed him, then withdrew the subpoena after he wrote about it on the MarketWatch Web site.
Greenberg, a veteran financial reporter, said the subpoena was part of the SEC's investigation of the research outfit Gradient Analytics. "The subpoena seeks 'all' unpublished 'communications,' including e-mails and phone records, between me and people and organizations I've quoted and at least one I've never quoted regarding five stocks," Greenberg wrote.
One of those companies, the online retailer Overstock.com, has filed suit against Gradient and the hedge fund Rocker Partners. The suit charged that Rocker paid for and edited false and libelous reports from Gradient, so it could profit from an expected drop in Overstock.com's stock price.
Greenberg, who has written columns critical of Overstock and its chief executive officer, Patrick Byrne, wrote Friday that "if my unpublished communications aren't safe from government eyes, then the tools of every business reporter in this country become fair game for any company that doesn't like scrutiny and chooses to play the 'conspiracy' card."
"My employer, Dow Jones, and I have objected to the subpoena," Greenberg wrote.
The New York Times reported that the SEC had also subpoenaed a second business columnist, Carol S. Remond of Dow Jones Newswires.
The commission backed off from the subpoenas, however, after Greenberg wrote about them on the MarketWatch site.
Dow Jones spokeswoman Amy Wolfcale told The Times, "It's our understanding that the SEC has decided not to seek production of any documents from Dow Jones at this time," but added, "The SEC may come back in the future."
Later Friday evening, Greenberg updated his column, writing, "I'm no longer being asked to provide the SEC all of my 'unpublished' communications."
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