Sellside analysts redux?

There was a day a few years ago when sell-side analysts had lost their cachet. The notion was that they were mere tools of the banks. But after a few years and a vaunted reform effort, it's clear that sell-side analysts are back--to some degree anyway. They are no longer stars, and buy-side analysts are rising. But the Street--and the media--still values their opinions. As Seeking Alpha notes, they are much more bearish these days. In 2000, 75 percent of recommendations were buys. In October 2002, that was down to 55 percent. Now, the figure stands at 43 percent. A contrarian indicator?  

For more:
- here's a Seeking Alpha article

Related articles:
- The future of equity research
- Sell-side research abuse charges coming
- Buy-side monitoring effectiveness of sell-side ideas
- More on the big boys at Goldman Sachs and independent research