Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) is worried that its analysts are going too easy on the companies that they cover. Perhaps they have become too friendly with managements or spent too many nights out on the town with executives trying to get clues about how things are going.

To counter any of that in addition to balancing bad analysis by its researchers, Merrill is insisting that each researcher rate 20% of the stocks in his coverage universe as "sell", or as the brokerage calls it "underperform".

Perhaps Merrill does not trust its army of analysts or at least it sounds that way. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Merrill also will require analysts to publish the reason for their recommendation and a price target for every stock." It goes without saying that a stock researcher who does not do that is not much of a stock researcher at all.

The move by Merrill is a tacit admission that its analysts have been giving bad advice to clients. Why change a system which is based on fair and reasonable ratings?

The only reason for the alteration is that clients have been misled.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of Ten Stocks Under $10.