The majority of the large full service American brokerage houses no longer allow their brokers/financial advisers to do their own independent research and choose their own stocks…. or to make recommendations to clients unless they are covered by their own firms’ research departments. This severely limits the opportunities and choices investors deserve, it also puts them at greater risk. Moreover, the brokers and financial advisers cannot use any of the many excellent and time-tested research services that are readily available. And there are many of them.