The • symbol represents a site we find particularly useful.
The Company’s own web-site “http://www.(company name, or abbrev, or acronym).com”
Some contain a surprising amount of critical information useful for activists. You can find company web pages by doing a title search in various search engines using the company’s name or Yahoo! Finance, CBS MarketWatch and Hoover’s often provide links to company websites.
• American City Business Journal (http://www.bizjournals.com)
“American City Business Journals Inc. is the nation’s largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers, serving 40 of the country’s most vibrant markets.” You’ll need to register for access to the search feature but it’s free! Allows you to perform searches by keyword and ‘market’ (i.e. by local city business journal). This site is especially useful for current information on private companies and general industry trends, but it also has information on public companies.
Annual Reports Gallery (http://www.annualreports.com)
“The Report Gallery is the most complete and up-to-date listing of Annual Reports and related financial reports online today. The Report Gallery currently lists over 2,200 Annual Reports and covers the majority of the fortune 500 companies. To access the annual report gallery, use the “Search & Browse Reports” box located in the bottom right corner. Perform searches by Exchange, Industry, Sector, or Alphabet. Access is free!
• Corporate Information (http://www.corporateinformation.com)
This is a very good site for information on public foreign companies and transnational corporations. No registration required for basic access. Allows you to search for data by company name or ticker, by country and industry, or by country or state only. Provides links to lots of free corporate data (including information on foreign subsidiaries) and has lots of useful industry information.
• Executive Pay Watch (http://www.aflcio.org/corporateamerica/paywatch/)
Compare workers’ wages with the salary packages of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies! You’ll also find an article about 2008 trends in CEO pay and another on the Employee Free Choice Act and the Double Standard. A new addition to the site are case studies on ten executive compensation practices as observed in ten different companies. The site also contains easy to use guides on how to research executive pay for (public) companies not in the site’s database. The site is updated every year.
GuideStar (http://www.guidestar.org)
A clearinghouse of information on nonprofit organizations. Access detailed financial information for more than 850,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide. Most information is free.
• Hoover’s Corporate Information (http://www.hoovers.com)
Database containing news articles, financial information and company overviews. You can get direct access to SEC filings and company press releases. To access the company information click on “Companies and Industries”. You’ll have to pay for access to expanded information. This site is best for brief overviews of public companies.
PR Newswire (http://www.prnewswire.com)
Get access to news stories about and press releases from public and private companies. Use the search browser to find “Products & Services” and “News Releases.” This site is great for background information on public companies and very useful in private company research!
The Scannery (http://www.thescannery.com/)
Search the websites of more than 10,000 publicly traded companies around the world. The Scannery, which permits the use of “fuzzy logic” and phonetic searches, allows the user to limit searches to companies in specific countries, stock market groupings (e.g., the S&P 500) and industries.
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov)
The Securities and Exchange Commission provides on-line copies of government filings made by publicly traded companies. Beginning in 1997, the SEC has required all public companies to file electronically. Selective filings are available back to 1994. To access current and archived SEC filings, click on “Search for Company Filings” under “Filings & Forms (Edgar)”.
Descriptions of SEC Forms (http://www.sec.gov/info/edgar/forms/edgform.pdf)
This page on the SEC site defines the documents that companies are required to submit. Below are definitions of some forms we find useful:
Proxy Statements (or 14A’s): Issued when official notification is given by a company to designated classes of shareholders of matters to be brought to a vote at a shareholders meeting. Proxy votes may be solicited for changing the company’s officers. Contains executive compensation data.
Form 8-K: This is the “current report” that is used to report the occurrence of any material events or corporate changes which are of importance to investors or security holders and previously have not been reported by the registrant. It provides more current information on certain specified events than would Forms 10-Q or 10-K.
10Q Statements: Provides quarterly financial statements, management discussion, legal proceedings, changes in securities, defaults upon senior securities, submission of matters to a vote of security holders, exhibits and reports on Form 8-K (major events).
10K Statements: Provides fiscal year financial statements, most of what appears in 10Q, but, for year end. Contains description of business, properties, directors and executive officers, security ownership of certain beneficial owners of management.
• Yahoo Reuters Investor (http://yahoo.investor.reuters.com/Home.aspx)
The Reuters Investor service offers news, quotes, charts, fundamentals, search, portfolio tracking, alerting and analysis on financial markets world wide for integration in financial institution – or non-financial institution – portals. Information includes a list of institutional stockholders and recent buying and selling activity. You can also get access to biographical information on executives and directors, current company and industry news, and analysts’ reports. Risk Alert Screens identify evidence that important Wall Street constituencies have become less enthusiastic about the stock. Enter the company’s name in the search box on the upper right side of the homepage.
See also Labor – Money & Politics – Environment – Corporate Responsibility
Updated Feb 2010. Please send website corrections to datacenter@datacenter.org.