I have heard of them but only because CNBC talks about them 4-5 times a year. Usually it is Bob Pisani or one of the market watchers saying something like this: Around midday the volume in XXX started to really pick up, and you can see by the chart the precarious drop, well I called around Maria, and apparently an independent research firm "off wallstreet" apparently issued a report this afternoon and they think that the street has an overly generous views on cashflows going foward and the stock should actually trade with single digit multiple.... well you get the picture. have no idea of their trackrecord but their reports seem to cause routine 8-10% moves. Also they must like the short side, all I can remember are stocks that are getting clocked whenever their name comes up.
www.offwallstreet.com/visitor/ Off Wall Street Consulting Group, Inc. is an independent research firm based in Harvard Square that provides fundamental research and sell recommendations to professional money managers. Its mission is to provide clients with profitable, action oriented, and exceptionally thorough fundamental research at a cost effective price. Off Wall Street seeks to identify stocks that have the potential to make 50% downward percentage moves. These stocks most often have relatively high valuations, and are going to have negative earnings surprises. Off Wall Street examines growth stocks where consensus earnings growth estimates are high, to see what could go wrong fundamentally. Recommendations are triggered when Off Wall Street thinks that actual financial results will create a change in investors' perception about the value of a stock. Off Wall Street's research explains in detail why this turn in events should happen. The focus is on changes in expectations due to earnings disappointments. These disappointments are often driven by balance sheet considerations and accounting adjustments as well as by operations. Off Wall Street was founded in March of 1990. It makes only sell recommendations. Off Wall Street has an extraordinary track record. Its recommendations have been right over 85% of the time. The Off Wall Street's short portfolio has outperformed a S&P 500 derivative short by over thirty percentage points annually. Results are documented quarterly for clients. Although the preponderance of research provided by investment banking analysts is made up of buy recommendations, sell recommendations are also important for growth stock managers who want to take gains at the best time, or for hedge fund managers who want to hedge their portfolios with short sales that have high profit potential. Such sell recommendations also provide valuable insights concerning the competitors and the industries in which the subject companies are situated, benefiting overall portfolio performance. Recommendations are thoroughly documented. Timely updates on recommendations is an important part of Off Wall Street's service. Distribution is via secure encrypted e-mail and complete archives are available to clients at Off Wall Street's web site.