Currently, Morningstar receives a good bit of business from major wall street firms who purchase research. The agreements are a result of lawsuits back in 2004 and as part of the settlement, companies such as Merrill Lynch and SmithBarney are required to offer their clients independent third party research for five years. Up to this point, the Hambrecht analyst believed that wall street would continue with the arrangement in order to stave off additional lawsuits in the future. But now that the firms are in more financial distress and are in cost cutting mode, there is more likelihood that the individual contracts will not be renewed. While this is an issue that will not actually occur until July of 2009, it is worth keeping on the radar as the stock price will adjust in accordance with future expected events.
