SECURITIES

SEC Issues Warnings on Internet Fraud: Securities regulators are investigating several cases in which brokers or corporate insiders may have used the Internet last month to anonymously tout stocks they were trying to dump, the National Assn. of Securities Dealers said. The investigations, including one of Comparator Systems Corp., emerged from an NASD study last month that found rapid increases in Internet message traffic before surges in the stock price and trading volume of half a dozen small companies. Amid these investigations, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it will publish a brochure today that alerts investors to online investment fraud and recommends ways to avoid it.