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| Scope:
This guide is a selected list of resources that will be useful
for locating information U.S. and international companies
and industries. These resources include print materials available
in the Stewart Library, and electronic resources, some of
which may be available only to WSU students, faculty, and
staff.
Table of
Contents
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For publicly-held corporations, the two most
commonly published sources of information are:
1) Annual reports to the shareholders. include descriptions of the
company's operations, goals and financial statistics. Publicly owned
companies are required to file annual reports with the SEC. These
reports are excellent sources of detailed information about the operations
of these companies.
2) SEC Reports (10-K Reports) - the official financial reports filed
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Information in the
annual report is often duplicated from the 10K. This is one of the
most comprehensive sources of company information.
Government site with
U.S. company filings including 10k, 10q, 8k forms
Provider of online annual
reports and 10K filings for U.S. public companies
Financial profiles of
U.S. and International publicly traded companies. Reports include
history, debt, ratios, news, financial statements, and more. Information
may be downloaded into an Excel Spreadsheet.
Provides financial information
on U.S. publicly traded companies including the company profile,
SEC filings, Competitors, and Industry
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe Library Database
Select the 'Business' category from the main menu, then choose
'SEC Filings & Reports'. Search by company name, SIC, or ticker
symbol.
-
Tips for Reading an Annual Report
- The Analysis and Use of Financial Statements
HF5681.B2W4678 1998
A good reference on how to use and interpret the footnotes. (It
is a good idea when analyzing financial statements to check the
"footnotes" for explanations on how various numbers were contrived.)
- Financial statement analysis HF5681.B2B46
2001
- The Managers Guide to Financial Statement Analysis
HF5681.B2J23 2001
Company profiles will
give you a company description, company histories, competitors,
and other general company information.
- Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies Table
6 HG4057.A1H662
- International Directory of Company Histories
Reference Table 6 HD2721.I63
- Company Web Sites
Useful for financial information, products, and services of the
company. Try using the most common form of the internet address:
http://www.businessname.com
Reports include company
overview, key facts, business description, company history, key
employees, major products and services, top competitors, company
view, and locations and subsidiaries
- Hoovers Online via Lexis-Nexis
A good place to start. To access Hoovers in the Lexis database,
select the Business option from the left hand menu, then
choose Company Profiles. From the search screen,
choose Hoover Company Reports from the drop down source
menu.
- Company Web Sites
Useful for financial information, products, and services of the
company. Try using the most common form of the internet address:
http://www.businessname.com
- Business
Source Premier
Coverage includes management, economics, finance, accounting,
and international business topics. Selected full-text. Use
the Company Profiles tab in the Business
Source Premier database for a report on that company
that includes a company overview, key facts, business description,
company history, key employees, major products and services, top
competitors, company view, and locations and subsidiaries.
- ABI/Inform
Coverage includes advertising, business conditions, economics,
finance, trends, corporate strategies, management techniques,
marketing, taxation, and product information. Information is broken
up into three separate databases - ABI/Inform Global, ABI/Inform
Dateline, ABI/Inform Trade & Industry
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe
Lexis provides extensive information on industries and corporations
through full text access to newspapers, magazines, newsletters
and financial reports. To access industry news, select 'Business',
then 'Industry & Market' to access news from over 25 industries.
- MergentOnline
Financial profiles of publicly-traded companies in the U.S.
and abroad. Coverage includes history, property, subsidiaries,
officers, directors, long term debt, capital stock, news, income
statement, balance sheet, statements of cash flow, ratio analysis,
basic directory information, and more.
- RMA Annual Statement Studies Reference
Table 6 HF5681. B2 R58
Contains composite financial data on manufacturing, wholesaling,
retailing, service, and contracting lines of business. Arranged
by SIC code, this work makes it possible to compare one company's
performance relative to other companies in the same line of business.
- Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios Reference
Table 6 HF5681. R25153
Includes both public and private US corporations of all sizes.
- Standard
& Poor's NetAdvantage
Includes the electronic version of Standard & Poor's Industry
Surveys.
Analysis of current and historical trends on an industry basis.
- Value
Line Research Center Database
Provides ratings and reports on industries and major companies.
Each industry section covers major issues as well as composite
industry statistics.
-
Standard
& Poor's NetAdvantage
Includes the electronic version of Standard & Poor's
Industry Surveys.
-
Mergent
News Reports (For Industrial manual, OTC industrial
manual, Transportation Manual, Public Utility Manual, Bank and
finance manual, International manual, and Municipal & Government
manual and news reports)
- Service Industries USA : Industry Analyses, Statistics,
and Leading Organizations Reference Table 5B HD9981.1
.S47
Covers service industries (SIC 7011-8999). Part I organized by
SIC and includes industry description, general statistics, indices
of change, selected ratios, leading companies, nonprofit organizations,
occupations, maps, and state-level statistics. Part II provides
tables for metropolitan statistical areas and is organized alphabetically
by metro area. Data is placed in SIC order for each table. Includes
indexes by SIC, service, company, nonprofit organization, metropolitan
area, and occupation.
- Wholesale and Retail Trade USA: Industry Analyses, Statistics,
and Leading Organizations Reference Table 6 HF5421.U5W56
1995
Covers wholesale (5012-5199) and retail distribution (5200-5999)
industries. Part I is organized by SIC and includes general statistics,
indices of change, selected ratios, leading companies, occupations,
maps, and state-level statistics. Part II provides tables for
cities and metro areas, organized alphabetically by city or metro
area. Data is placed in SIC order for each table. Includes indexes
by SIC, subject, company, city, and occupation.
- Encyclopedia of American Industries Reference
Table 6 HC102 .E53 1998
Volume I covers Manufacturing Industries, and Volume II covers
Service and Non-manufacturing Industries. Both volumes arranged
by SIC code. Entries include an industry snapshot, organization
and structure, background and development, current conditions,
and industry leaders. Also includes a bibliography for further
reading.
- Manufacturing USA : Industry Analyses, Statistics, and
Leading Organizations Reference Table 6 HD9721 .M364
1998
Covers manufacturing, wholesale trade, and the retail sector.
Vol. I covers Manufacturing by SIC code and begins Vol. II, Manufacturing
by NAICS code. Vol. III completes Vol. II and begins Wholesale
and Retail Industries by SIC code. Most entries include trends,
general statistics, indices of change selected ratios, leading
companies, materials consumed, product share details, occupations
employed, maps, and industry data by state.
- Utah Directory of Business & Industry Reference
Table 6 HD 9727 .U8 U82
- Moody's/Mergent Industry Review Reference
Table 6 HG 4961 .M68
Provides comparative financial data by industry for approximately
3,500 companies.
- Dun and Bradstreet/Gale industry reference
handbooks Reference Table 6
Contains an industry overview, statistics and performance indicators,
financial norms & ratios, company directory, and rankings.
v. 1-Entertainment and hospitality v.2-Insurance and health &
medical services v. 3-Construction and agriculture v.4-Chemicals
and pharmaceuticals v. 5-Computers & software and broadcasting
& telecommunications
- U.S. Industry Profiles: The Leading 100 Reference
Table 6 HC 106.82 .U6 1998
Organized in alphabetical order by industry, with two indexes:
the Industry Index, which provides access via SIC code, and the
General Index, which references all companies, associations, publications,
and key government agencies. Entries include references for further
reading.
- U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook Reference
Table 6
Provides evaluations and projections of major industrial and commercial
segments of the domestic economy.
- Value
Line Research Center Database
Provides ratings and reports on industries and major companies.
Each industry section covers major issues as well as composite
industry statistics.
- Industry Link
Links to industry web sites.
- Industry
Research Desk
Provides tools for researching specific companies, industries,
and manufacturing processes. Includes a tutorial on how to learn
about an industry or a specific company, industry data, industry
home pages, and manufacturing process home pages.
- Business.com Industry
Profiles
This site includes in-depth and updated industry profiles,
industry-specific news, events, and associations for various industries.
- North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
Provides common industry definitions for Canada, Mexico, and the
United States. This new system is replacing the countries' separate
classification systems with one uniform system for classifying
industries. In the US, NAICS will replace the Standard Industrial
Classification system (SIC). Provides information about new industries
and sectors as well as correspondence information between NAICS
and SIC.
- Standard
Industrial Classification Code Search
Allows a search of the 1987 version SIC manual by keyword, access
of descriptive information for a specified 4-digit SIC, and examination
of the manual structure. The SIC manual may be searched by keyword
or by SIC code from this site.
- Standard industrial classification manual : SIC 2 +
2 Reference Table 6 HF1042.S73 1988
- North American industry classification system
Reference Table 6 PREX2.6/2:IN 27/997/
- Researching
Companies Online
Nice tutorial for doing research on companies. Offers sites for
free company information. Discussion provided for locating high-level
company information, finding sales prospects, identifying telephone
numbers and addresses, locating company home pages, researching
company financial information, monitoring company news and periodicals,
reviewing public opinion, using business and financial meta-sites,
locating professional associations, finding conferences and seminars,
learning about an industry, researching nonprofit organizations,
and identifying international business resources.
- Searching
for Company Information
From the New York Public Library.
HISTORICAL STOCK QUOTES
- Historical Stock
Quotes (YAHOO)
Enter stock symbol, then choose historical prices.
- SiliconInvestor.com
Enter company name or ticker symbol, then choose "Hist.
Prices" from the menu bar. Includes opening, closing, high,
low prices and volume.
- BigCharts
Select "Historical Quotes" from the menu. Includes closing price,
open, high, low, volume, split-adjusted price, and adjustment
factor. Displays only one date at a time.
- Historical Data
for S&P 500 Stocks
One year only. Includes links to other historical sources.
- NASDAQ
Click on the stock charts to see the underlying data.
Associations are potential
sources of information on companies. Many have Web pages.
- Encyclopedia of Associations Reference
Desk
- Encyclopedia of Associations (International Organizations)
Reference Desk
- Yearbook of International Organizations JX1904
.A42
- National trade and professional associations of the
United States, 1999 Reference HD2425.N37 1999
- The Directory of Business Information Sources
Reference HF54.52 .U5 D567 2000
Includes associations, newsletters, magazines & journals,
trade shows, directories & databases, and Web sites.
- Associations on
the Net (Internet Public Library)
"A collection of over 2000 Internet sites providing information
about a wide variety of professional and trade associations, cultural
and art organizations, political parties and advocacy groups,
labor unions, academic societies, and research institutions. Abstracts
summarizing information about the association and its site are
provided."
Guides to the literature are useful in leading you to many other sources
that not listed in this guide. Use these to help you identify other
sources for a comprehensive search.
- Business Information Sources Reference
HF5351.D16 1993
- Business Information: How to Find It: How to Use It
Reference Table 6 HF5356.L36 1992
- Encyclopedia of business information sources
Reference Z7164.C81E93
Research
Tips for Company Research
A few questions to ask
yourself before you begin:
- What company are you researching?
If you need help in selecting a company, try the Fortune 500 web
site. This site lists the Fortune 500 companies in order of Fortune
500 rank and provides links to their homepages, a company snapshot,
industry information, and other information pertaining to the
company. Since these companies are large publicly held companies,
it will be relatively easy to find information.
- Is the company public or private?
a. Determine whether the company is publicly held, privately
owned, or a subsidiary of a publicly held organization. Remember,
information is more easily found for publicly held companies.
b. Public Company stock can be bought on public
stock exchanges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
requires that public companies disclose financial information
to the public. Therefore, there is a lot of financial data and
disclosures about public company practices.
c. Private Company stock is typically owned by
the principles in the company (founders, family members key employees,
etc.). Financial disclosures do not have to be made to the public.
The best strategy is to search for a company web site, news sources
or inquire directly to the company. See
Private Company Resources for suggestions
on how to research privately held companies.
Beware of 'hidden
company names' when researching a company. If you cannot
find any information on a public company after searching by company
name, try potential variants of the company name or use the ticker
symbol. Here are a few examples:
- DuPont: The company's name is actually E I Du Pont de Nemours
& Company. For companies with initials in their name, try
searching both forms. Another example is E. W. Scripps.
- IBM: is actually International Business Machines
- AT&T: really IS AT&T (but used to be American Telephone
and Telegraph Company)
- The Gap: Some directories will list this company under the T's,
while others will list it under G. If a company has a 'The' at
the beginning of its name, try both.
- Alcoa: Commonly known as 'Alcoa', it's proper legal name is
Aluminum Company of America. Some directories list it under 'Alcoa',
and some under its proper name.
- Using punctuation: Some databases don't mind periods or commas-
they simply ignore them. Others are more picky: if you don't include
punctuation, you won't get results, OR including punctuation gives
you no results. Again, if you're unsure, try both.
Some questions to consider
include:
- What are the industry trends and areas of growth?
- Who are the leading companies in the industry?
- What products and services are in the greatest demand?
- What new technologies are impacting the industry?
Still
Need Help?
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you're looking for or if you have questions...
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