Merrill bars non-clients from research

Merrill Lynch & Co. analysts are mad as hell that people are simultaneously belittling and stealing their investment ideas and they aren't going to take it anymore, according to Crain's New York Business. To that end, the nation's biggest brokerage says it will take steps to ensure that Merrill research gets to Merrill customers first. The firm will bar people who aren't clients from accessing Merrill research on its Web site and also delay releasing analyst reports to the media, among other measures. "Much like the music and film industries before us, Merrill Lynch research is in the throes of being Napsterized," wrote Merrill's head of global securities research and economics, Candace Browning, in a letter to clients on Thursday. Research analysts have been struggling for ways to get recognized -- and, above all, paid -- for their insights for several years. Their work came under heavy criticism from investors and regulators back in 2002 after analysts were shown to be little more than shills for their firm's investment banking departments. Many institutional investors remain dismissive of so-called "sell-side research," but evidently enough people who aren't clients are using Merrill's research that the firm decided it needed to clamp down.