| Articles in newspapers, magazines and journals (collectively known as periodicals) provide a wealth of current information on companies, industries, and factors in the external environment. Facts on subsidiaries, private firms, and specific products can often be discovered. Databases should be used to find appropriate articles among the thousands of periodicals published. Key business databases are listed below; it is essential to use more than one database to gain access to a broad range of periodicals, especially when researching small companies, specialized industries and narrow topics.
Business Source Premier
Includes academic business journals, trade journals, market reports, company reports, and company SWOT analyses.
CSUS authentication required
ABI/Inform
Great for academic, trade and and national business journals.
Use the Advanced Search screen for more search options.
CSUS authentication required
Factiva
Use the News Pages tab to get daily/weekly headlines of major business and news publications.
Full text for 10,000 publications which are international in scope including newspapers (US national, US regional, and foreign), trade publications, national business publications, business newsletters, business news wires, and some academic journals.
CSUS authentication required
LexisNexis Academic
Click News on red menu bar then select Business News from the menu. Click Show to select specific industries or subjects to search.
Provides company information and news, trade journals, national news, and international news.
CSUS authentication required
Sacramento Bee
Has the full text of articles appearing in the Bee since 1986. Search to find information on local companies.
CSUS authentication required
Sacramento Business Journal http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/
This online version has daily headlines and some of the week's top stories from the print version. Free registration is required.
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| FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT INFORMATION |
US and international companies with publicly traded stock on US stock exchanges are required to file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These SEC documents are the source for financial information found in the databases listed below.
Mergent Online
Provides financial information for publicly traded U.S. and International companies.
Includes 15 years of historical financial information (balance sheet, income statement, etc.), segment data, ratios, executive salaries, SEC filings, etc.
Tear Sheets provide analyst commentary and on-page summary financial performance information.
Portraits feature a complete analysis of the firm’s financial health, in-depth industry analysis and text commentary to provide perspective on the firm both in absolute terms, as well as relative to industry peers.
CSUS authentication required
Value Line Research Center
Presents a concise analysis of a company's financial performance. Fundamental financials are also included. Use the menu on the left hand side to navigate. Click Plus Edition to start your search for a company or industry. HTML document contains both company and industry commentary.
CSUS authentication required
Factiva
Use the Companies/Markets tab to get a company profile, latest news, and financials.
CSUS authentication required
These web sites provide current financial and stock price data. Users wishing to create portfolios may wish to create a free user account.
Reuters Investor http://www.investor.reuters.com
If you can't make it to the library this is one of the easiest places to get ratios for an industry and/or sector. Free registration required.
Yahoo! Finance http://finance.yahoo.com
One of the best, easiest to use, free internet sites for company financial information.
CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/
CNN Financial Network's Resource Center features current company profiles, stock performance, analysts' reports and links to other resources, a glossary of business terms, stock information and a few other utilities such as special reports about business topics.
MarketWatch http://www.marketwatch.com/
News and Commentary, Markets, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, and Tools & Research. For an individual company there is a quote, fundamental data, chart, news, SEC filings, options, and analyst information.
Zacks.com http://www.zacks.com/
Zacks polls brokers for their estimates of company earning and buy/sell recommendations. Brokerage research on your public company may be purchased. Zacks also gives a lot of valuable, free information such as broker recommendations (strong buy, moderate buy, hold, moderate sell, strong sell along with an average; an annual risk rating is provided, eps - actuals and projections are given; tracking of insider trading (buying and selling); financial and epa histories are provided; and company versus industry ratios and eps growth are furnished.
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| INDUSTRY FINANCIAL RATIOS |
Ratio sourcebooks contain financial and operating ratios, and composite balance sheet and income statements for specific industries, usually arranged by SIC or NAICS numbers. They are used when comparing a company's ratios to the industry standard.
- Dun and Bradstreet Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios Ref HF 5681 .R25 I525
- RMA Annual Statement Studies Ref HF 5681 .R25 R6
- Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios Ref HF 5681 .R25 T68
- IRS Corporate Financial Ratios Ref HG 5681 B2 I7
Factiva
Do a search for a company under the Companies/Markets tab. Then click Reports to get to Ratio Comparison Report which lists ratios for the company vs. industry vs. sector vs. S&P 500 all in one chart.
CSUS authentication required
Financial Studies of the Small Business Ref HD 2346 U5 F55a
Provides balance sheet and other financial averages for small businesses. Business types are further broken down into categories according to asset size.
Mergent Online
Ratios are available under the Company Financials tab.
CSUS authentication required
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| RANKINGS AND MARKET SHARE |
These directories rank major companies by sales, number of employees or other financial measures within specific industries or locations. An individual firm's market share can be easily computed by dividing its figure by the industry or location's total value. Industries are usually listed by the SIC or NAICS code arrangement.
- Ward's Business Directory Ref HG 4057 A561
- D&B Business Rankings Ref HG 4057 ADJI2
- Mergents Industry Review Ref HG 4905 M88
- Business Journal (Sacramento) Top 25 Lists Ref HF 5065 S12 B8
- Business Rankings Annual Ref HG 4057 A353
- Market Share Reporter Ref HF 1040.9 M3
- World Market Share Reporter Ref HF 5410 W67
Business Source Premier
Industry Overviews and Market Reports will include market share information. Do a keyword search by industry.
CSUS authentication required
ABI/Inform
Use the Advanced Search screen to search for articles with market share information. Search either by company name or industry.
CSUS authentication required
Snapshots North America
Database provides brief market research reports for 630+ categories. Includes market share, market forecast, etc. Focus is US market.
CSUS authentication required
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Fundamental to conducting industry research is the classification of economic activity. The Standard Industrial Classification system is widely used to classify US economic activity. This system was developed by the Office of Management and Budget and is still used by the SEC as well as in some business information publications. In 1997, a new system of classification was instituted incorporating Canada, Mexico and the United States and was called the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS. Today NAICS is used by the Census Bureau's Economic Census and in many business publications.
Standard Industrial Classification Manual http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html
Print version available at Ref HA 40 I6 U63 1987
North American Industry Classification System, United States http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
Print version available at Ref. HF 1042 N6
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| INDUSTRY PROFILES AND PROJECTIONS |
Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys Ref HG 4921 S65
Provides an overview of 52 major industries and includes major competitors.
Best source for a broad narrative overview with great charts and analysis!
Business Source Premier
Industry Overviews and Market Reports will include market share information. Do a keyword search by industry.
CSUS authentication required
Value Line Research Center
Either browse the newest issues or search search by industry name. Value Line lists companies by industry so it is easy to find competing companies. The HTML document for each company includes industry commentary.
Start by clicking Plus Edition in left-hand menu bar.
CSUS authentication required
2007 U.S. Industry & Market Outlook Ref HC 101 U542
Provides brief statistical data and trends.
Encyclopedia of American Industries Ref HC 102 E53
Provides industry summaries according to NAICS codes.
Current Industrial Reports http://www.census.gov/cir/www/alpha.html
"The CIR program has been providing monthly, quarterly, and annual measures of industrial activity for many years. The primary objective of the CIR program is to produce timely, accurate data on production and shipments of selected products. The data are used to satisfy economic policy needs and for market analysis,
forecasting, and decision-making in the private sector."
Economic Census http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/
Survey of business activity conducted every five years by Census Bureau. Good source for data at a local level.
Hoover's Industry Snapshots http://www.hoovers.com/free/ind/fr/list.xhtml
Concise historical and current overviews of the major industries touching on major players and market share, projected sales, and trends.
Industry Link http://www.industrylink.com/
Listing with annotations of company and resource web sites, which you can browse alphabetically by industry.
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Use the Sacramento State
online catalog EUREKA to find books.
To find books on a particular company do a Keyword search and type in the name of the company.
To find books on a particular industry (e.g. beer industry), product name (e.g. beer) or service (e.g. breweries) try a Keyword or Subject search.
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| FURTHER PRINT BUSINESS RESOURCES |
Mergent Manuals (formerly Moody's Manuals)
These sources provide information from companies' annual reports, SEC Reports and other documents. They discuss a company's history, major business involvements, basic products and services, and display financial statements for a number of years. Good for doing historical business research.
- Mergent Complete Corporate Index Ref HG 4961 .M61 - an alphabetical listing of the over 40,000 public companies described in the 7 Mergent Manuals listed below
- Mergent Industrial Manual Ref HG 4961 M63 - covers companies traded on the NYSE, AMEX, and regional exchanges
- Mergent International Manual Ref HG 4509 .M66 - covers major foreign companies throughout the world and includes information on the economy of each country
- Mergent OTC Industrial Manual Ref HG 4565 .O8 M59 and Mergent OTC Unlisted Manual Ref HG 4565 .O8 M65 - each manual covers companies traded on the NASDAQ/Over-the-Counter exchanges
- Mergent Transportation Manual Ref HG 4971 .M6 - covers airlines, railroads, trucking and shipping companies
- Mergent Bank and Finance Manual Ref HG 4961 .M6 - covers banks, savings & loans, insurance firms, REITs and other financial companies
- Mergent Public Utility Manual Ref HG 4961 .M67 - covers gas, electric, and telephone companies
- Mergent Handbook of Common Stocks Ref HG 4905 .M815
General Industry, Economic and Demographic Statistics
- Encyclopedia of Association Ref HS 17 G3
- National Trade and Professional Associations of the U.S. Ref HD 2425 D53
- Statistical Abstract of the United States http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Also available in print at Ref HA 202
- Standard and Poor's Statistical Service Ref HG 4921 S752
- Ward's Automotive Yearbook Ref HD 9710 U5 W26
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| FURTHER FINANCE AND INVESTMENT WEBSITES |
Business.com http://www.business.com/
Company financials include the following: Stock Quote , Upgrade/Downgrade, Earnings Estimates, Institutional Holdings , Insider Trading, News , Competitors , People, Profile , Financials : - Income Statement - Balance Sheet - Cash Flow , Ratios & Stats, and Key Developments
EDGAR http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System. The source for public companies ' 10-K and 10-Q reports filed with the SEC. Reports prior to January 1994 aren't available.
Forbes Company Reports http://www.forbes.com/companies/
GuideStar from Philanthropic Research http://www.guidestar.org/
More than 620,000 nonprofit organizations run by, a nonprofit located here in Williamsburg. Their mission is to gather together financial and other information about nonprofit organizations. The financial information comes from the IRS 990 forms.
Ohio State's Financial Data Finder http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/DB_Search/db_search.cgi?setup_file=finance.setup.cgi
Search Engine and Comprehensive Index to financial and and security data. Each entry has a concise descriptive annotation of what is at the other end of the link. Looking for that hard to find piece of financial info; try the Data Finder as a last resort.
Wright Investors' Service Research Page http://www.wisi.com/ramainnew.htm
Merged with CorporateInformation.com - also an excellent place to start your company research on the Internet. Public Company Reports consist of a Company Profile, Analysis Summary, Sales Analysis, Price Analysis, & Earnings Analysis. This is a good site for the comparison of international companies in over 54 countries. Site also contains narratives on financial performance - "Research Reports".
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Send questions, comments or suggestions to:
Anne Bradley
mailto:bradleya@csus.edu
Copyright@2007 Anne Bradley - California State University, Sacramento
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