Science, Industry and Business Library

Prospecting for Business Information
Getting Started
Company Basics
Primary Information
Media and News Coverage
Peers, Analysts, and Consumers
HOME DISCUSSION GLOSSARY

Resources

The following is a list of business resources, many of which may be available in your local public, university, or corporate libraries. If these specific resources are unavailable, ask your local library for additional resources to fit your research needs.

Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

Module 4

Module 5



Module 1: GETTING STARTED

Mergent Online
Provides information on more than 35,000 U.S. and international companies (active and inactive), including 15,000 U.S. public companies. Includes all SEC filings and domestic and international annual reports from 1996- to the present.

Harris New York Manufacturers Directory
Published annually in cooperation with the New York State Department of Economic Development, this directory includes descriptive and statistical data for companies in the entire state that is obtained primarily from state, county and city departments of economic development and local chambers of commerce.

Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies
Short profiles of the largest U.S. private companies are arranged alphabetically; includes financial, corporate, and administrative history.

International Business in New York City: Directory
Published annually by the Commission for International Business and United Nations and Weissman Center for International Business.



Module 2: COMPANY BASICS

D & B Million Dollar Directory
Covers hundreds of thousands of public and private companies in the U.S. and includes, among other items, company name and contact information, industry designation, sales volume, number of employees, parent company, and executive names and titles.

Investext
Includes articles and statistics. Search this database to find investment analysts' reports on companies & industries from over 500 brokers in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Search by company, industry, or keyword. Covers reports from 1997 to current month.

infoUSA's ReferenceUSA
Includes addresses and sales information for over 12 million U.S. companies. Very useful for locating smaller businesses, as it includes companies of all employee sizes and annual sales ranges.

Standard Directory of Advertisers
Includes 6,600+ advertisers and agencies from around the world.

Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
Includes 151,000+ U.S. and Canadian manufacturing companies. Allows searching by company name, product or service, or brand name. (Also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.thomasregister.com)

Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors, and Executives
Includes entries for 55,000+ public and private U.S. companies. Also contains biographies of directors and executives. Geographical, SIC classification, and corporate family group indexes available.

Mergent Online
Provides information on more than 35,000 U.S. and international companies (active and inactive), including 15,000 U.S. public companies. Includes all SEC filings and domestic and international annual reports from 1996- to the present.

Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies
Includes 90,000 U.S. private (90%) and public companies.



Module 3: PRIMARY INFORMATION

Securities Exchange Commission
http://www.sec.gov/ -- The official home page for the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission. Includes detailed information on EDGAR filings.

Free EDGAR
http://www.freeedgar.com -- Freeedgar is moving to a subscription base which will continue to offer easy access to EDGAR filings.

Annual Reports Service
http://www.annualreportservice.com -- A site which permits the user to view online annual reports and to request free hard copy reports.

uschamber
http://www.uschamber.com/default.htm -- The official website for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which offers links to local chambers.

firstgov
http://www.firstgov.gov/ -- The official U.S. government portal to over 30 million pages of government information, services, and online transactions.

Google
http://www.google.com -- A text matching search engine. Google can be very effective if the search is narrowed using the Google Web Directory of subjects.

Yahoo!
http://www.yahoo.com

Hershey's
http://www.hersheys.com

Mergent Online
http://www.fisonline.com -- Mergent Online
Provides information on more than 35,000 U.S. and international companies (active and inactive), including 15,000 U.S. public companies. Includes all SEC filings and domestic and international annual reports from 1996- to the present.
Guidestar
For private companies that are also nonprofit, Guidestar may be able to help you locate financial data. Guidestar (http://www.guidestar.org) is a nonprofit organization whose website provides information about the operations and finances of thousands of nonprofit organizations in the US and the UK. It is freely available over the web for anyone to search.


Module 4: MEDIA AND NEWS COVERAGE

Business Dateline
Full-text database with complete articles from more than 350 regional business journals, daily newspapers, and business wire services.

Factiva
Factiva is a Dow Jones & Reuters company. This subscription database provides "current news, historical articles, local-language articles, market research and investment analyst reports, and stock quotes."

LexisNexis
One of the best known business research tools. LexisNexis is a subscription-based searchable database of information gathered from thousands of newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and so on.

Proquest
This popular subscription-based research database includes abstracts, summaries, and full-text of articles from thousands of publications. Proquest includes up-to-the-minute information but can also be used to track information about a company over a period of time.

Wall Street Research Net
This is an online service that allows you to search for news articles and market information for public companies using a company's ticker symbol.

EBSCO
EBSCO Publishing is the producer of a range of databases which provide online access to full-text journal articles. The EBSCO databases are accessed through EBSCOhost and are available widely in public and academic libraries.



Module 5: PEERS, ANALYSTS, AND CONSUMERS

Online Investment Resources:

Business Portals:

CEO Express http://www.ceoexpress.com -- A subscription service which provides extensive company and financial news coverage.

Corporate Information http://www.corporateinformation.com -- A current news site for company information.

Business.com: The Business Search Engine http://www.business.com -- A site which provides links to market information around the world.

Stock Data:

Yahoo! Finance http://finance.yahoo.com -- This is part of the yahoo business and economy subject group and is useful for stock and investment information.

Hoover's http://www.hoovers.com -- Hoover's is a publisher of print and online domestic U.S. and foreign company information.

Wall Street Research Net http://www.wsrn.com -- A major collection of links to research information on actively traded stocks and mutual funds.

Big Charts http://www.bigcharts.com -- A site which provides free access to charts, reports, and indicators for stocks and mutual funds.

CNET Investor News http://investor.cnet.com -- A commercial service which provides business and investment news, reviews, website building guides, and other resources.

New Issues (IPOs):

IPO Express http://ipoportal.edgar-online.com/ipo/home.asp -- Part of EDGAR online it includes recent filings, upcoming and latest filings, news, and historic performance.

Mutual Funds:

Morningstar http://www.morningstar.com -- Morningstar offers news and analysis of markets, stocks, and mutual funds for the individual investor.

Brill's Mutual Fund Interactive http://www.brill.com

Mutual Funds Investment Center http://www.mfea.com -- Provides links to mutual fund companies and pricing for over 1000 funds.

Kiplinger http://www.kiplinger.com -- A commercial service which analyzes financial news.

Mutual Funds Central http://www.mutualfundscentral.com -- A site which provides investment intelligence for mutual fund investors.

Bond Market Association http://www.investinginbonds.com -- A Bond Market Association site which provides information on municipal, corporate, mortgage backed, and U.S. government securities.

Treasury Direct http://www.treasurydirect.gov -- The official website for the U.S. Treasury Department with information on U.S. government securities.

Currency/Exchange Rates:

Oanda.com http://www.oanda.com -- This site is devoted to foreign exchange information including current and historical conversion information.

Bank Rates:

Bank Rates http://www.bankrate.com -- A site which provides bank interest rates for mortgages,consumer loans,savings accounts and credit cards.

Stock Exchanges:

Nasdaq-Amex http://www.nasdaq.com -- The official site for the NASDAQ stock exchange. Includes current information on listed companies.

New York Stock Exchange http://www.nyse.com -- The official site for the New York Stock Exchange. Includes statistical and financial news.

Financial News:

Forbes http://www.forbes.com -- The official site for Forbes Magazine. Includes the list of Forbes wealthiest persons.

Fortune http://www.fortune.com -- The official site for Fortune Magazine. Includes the Fortune company rankings.

Barron's http://www.barrons.com -- The online edition of Dow Jones financial newspaper.

Glossaries:

Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com -- This site serves as a guide to investing and personal finance information and definitions.

Finance Glossary http://www.finance-glossary.com -- A site which provides definitions with graphs and video for financial terms.

Investor Words http://www.investorwords.com -- An online financial glossary of 5000 words and 15000 links.


Standards & Regulations:

Securities Exchange Commission http://www.sec.gov

National Association of Securities Dealers http://www.nasd.com -- The official site for the National Association of Securities Dealers includes market data and statistics.

Financial Planning/ Education:

American Association for Individual Investors http://www.aaii.com -- The official site for the American Association of Individual Investors. Includes guidance on beginning an investment program.

ARMCHAIR MILLIONARE! http://www.armchairmillionaire.com -- A site designed to provide investment information for individuals.

American Savings Education Council http://www.choosetosave.org/asec/ -- The website for the American Savings Education Council which provides information on long term financial education.

Retirement Planning:

American Association of Retired Persons http://www.aarp.com -- The official site for the American Association of Retired Persons offers economic and investment information for those of retirement age.