Recent data shows that 36% of all NASDAQ companies have no research coverage and that 46% of NYSE companies, with floats of under $250mm, have no coverage. Over the past ten years, there has been a general shrinking of the number of brokerage firms from approximately 40 key players to about 25 today. One factor that has occurred with this diminution is that many firms have been forced by industry conditions to provide research and banking services to relatively larger corporations. This has left a partial void for very small corporations.