Posted: September 9th, 2015

Financial Information Retrieval and Analyzing Financial Data

Financial Information Retrieval and Analyzing Financial Data
Internet Search and Data Gathering Instructions
A. All public companies are now required to file reports electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are submitted in ASCII format and are available on the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval System (EDGAR).
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm.

B. Find the SIC code of a particular entity in your assigned industry by using the EDGAR site. There is a button on the main page that is labeled SIC Codes. An alternative search site is available at http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html. A complete listing on one page can be found at: http://www.sec.gov/info/edgar/siccodes.htm. Note the “mega” classifications are provided below.

=>>> *** Assigned Industry: 7000-8999: Services ******
C. Return to the home page of EDGAR. Click the button to search for company filings and search by the SIC code you have chosen. You will be provided a list of companies. Choose one company you are interested in analyzing. Search for the company’s most recent 10K filing (annual report). Briefly review the information provided in the 10K, taking note of the business description. Another useful site for retrieving SEC filings by SIC code is: www.secinfo.com. Experiment!

D. Go to http://www.msn.com/en-us/money. This website uses the information in the EDGAR databases. Enter the company’s name in the “get quote” form field. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose “Financial Statements.” Print out the 5-year income statement.

E. Using the EDGAR database (either SEC information site) choose a competitor in the same industry. Review the competitor’s 3- or 5-year income statement from money.msn.com or www.finance.yahoo.com. You will be required to submit a screenshot of the income statement as part of the requirements (see below).

F. Go to www.finance.yahoo.com. Again, use your company’s name or ticker symbol in the form field. Locate on the site where you can find information on the industry averages for your company. Print out this page.
Requirements
1. A two page typewritten report about your findings. This will include a description of the company and a financial analysis of the company compared to its competitor and the industry as a whole. In particular:

a) Briefly describe the major industries in which the company operates, including the SIC codes and the major products or services offered by the company.

b) Financial analysis that describes the operating performance and financial health/risk of your company and the major strengths and weaknesses of the company relative to its competitor and the industry using the financial ratios and earnings forecasts provided in your search.

c) Finally, discuss why you would or would not invest in your company.

2. You will upload your report file to Bb using Safe Assign by the due date for the assignment. A link will be provided to you in the Learning Module and the Assignments folder.

3. Also upload a screenshot of the 5-year or 3-year income statement of your company and a competitor from http://www.msn.com/en-us/money or www.finance.yahoo.com (the screenshot will contain only a few of the financial statement items, but should include total revenue) and a printout of the industry statistics/averages from www.finance.yahoo.com (these should include some of the ratios discussed in your paper) Note: it is o.k. to use other sources than the ones suggested as long as these sources also provide multi-year summaries and industry ratios/averages. If you use other sources than the ones provided above, please include a citation. Otherwise, you do not need to cite.

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