New York ? A federal judge Wednesday threw out a lawsuit by investors who claimed they lost money in a technology-focused mutual fund run because manager Merrill Lynch issued misleading research reports.

Giving Merrill its second court victory this week, U.S. District Judge Milton Pollack ruled it was public knowledge that the Global Technology Fund included stocks covered by the company’s analysts.

The class-action lawsuit included investors who put money into the fund between October 1999 and October 2002 — a period marked by dramatic decline in technology stock prices.

The investors claimed Merrill intentionally put out misleading reports on fund-owned stocks to win investment banking business from those companies, no matter whether they were sound investments.

Pollack disagreed.

“The alleged conflict of interest between brokerage firms, investment bankers and research analysts … was a matter of public knowledge for years before the amazing boom of the market initially rewarded those who disregarded such caveats,” he wrote.

Earlier this week, Pollack tossed out lawsuits by investors who said Merrill was responsible for the money they lost on two companies whose stock prices plummeted after the Internet bubble burst.

A spokesman for Merrill Lynch said the firm was reviewing the decision and had no immediate comment.

Daniel W. Krasner, a lead lawyer representing the investors, also said he had no immediate comment.