Financial News Online reports that the buy side, in general, is buying much less research these days. The trend likely will continue as hedge funds [1] work to develop their own research. This is bad news for the sell side and for independent shops; hedge funds account for the majority of their equity commissions. Top hedge funds are continuing to invest in their internal research capabilities. At the same time, they are bent on reducing costs via cheaper execution venues. All that seems to be squeezing research a bit. Sell-side research will never wither, but the concerns about the sell-side business model persist.  

For more:
- here's the Financial News Online article [2]

Related Articles:
Sellside analysts redux? Article [3]
Buy side monitoring effectiveness of sell-side ideas. Article [4]
Sell-side research abuse charges coming. Article [5]