I've always felt the issue with analysts is that your customers don't value your work--ie., you can't get paid for doing these reports.  There were independent analyst firms in the early '70's, and they had trouble staying in business.  It might be a good time to try that model again--but with so much money to be made in the deal side, investment banking, and all of the financial arbitrage opportunities,,,,,I would imagine good analysts would be tempted to go where the big money is.

Also, imho, analysts just provide a platform for an investor to begin his own evaluation of a company.  One has to do the hard work themselves--no analyst is going to just give you a wonderful way of making millions.  If he had that capability, he would just create a fund and run it and make big money for himself.  Luckily the requirement for transparency in US markets today keeps investors on more of an equal footing,,,,,and the internet has been an incredible evening of the playing field.  I referenced that La Jolla 10K in the diary, and you can get that information as quickly as an analyst.  You can also listen in on the company conference call yourself.  Do your own research on the company's business--in this case a disease called Lupus.  It's not all that difficult to have more knowledge than the analyst,,,,but it takes focus, time, and hard work.  There are no freebies here.