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Ticker Symbols

Ticker symbols are letters used to uniquely identify a public company and can be used to make company research more effiicient. Many of the resources in this guide will identify ticker symbols, but one of the quickest way to find a ticker symbol is to use a free website like MarketWatch or MSNMoney.

Types of Companies

Information on companies varies greatly depending on the type of company. Use a directory to determine whether a company is public, private, non-profit or non-U.S.

Public - There is a great deal of information available on companies which trade on the stock market - SEC filings, annual reports, analysts' reports, news stories, books and case studies.

Private - Information on private companies is usually limited to brief information in directories, news stories, and sometimes books. All 50 states make some level of corporate and business filings available online, see Business Filings Databases for links to the states.

International - The amount of information on international companies varies. If the company trades on the U.S. exchanges it must file annual reports (20-F) with the SEC. Other information can be found in directories, databases, newspapers and magazines.

Non-Profit - Nonprofits must file IRS Form 990 which includes financial data. Form 990 and other information on nonprofits such as organizational statistics, a summary of organization goals and activities, list of board members and executives can be found in Guidestar.org (BC Community Only). For more information see the Nonprofit Industry Research Guide.

New Databases

Amadeus
Access is for one year only (June 2013 - June 2014)
Amadeus is a database of comparable financial information for public and private companies across Europe. BC subscription includes about 1 million very large companies, meaning they have Operating Revenue >= 100 million EUR (130 million USD) and/or Total Assets >= 200 million EUR (260 million USD) and/or Employees >= 1,000 or are Listed.
Bankscope
Access is for one year only (April 2013- April 2014).
Bankscope contains detailed financial information for the following public and private banks: ••Top 8,000 European banks ••Top 14,000 North American banks ••1,000 Japanese banks ••1,200 Russian banks ••Over 5,000 other major banks ••The leading 35 supranational banking and financial organizations Each bank report contains a detailed consolidated and/or unconsolidated balance sheet, an income statement and interim reports with up to 16 years of information. Bankscope also provides ratings, rating reports, country risk ratings and reports, news and detailed ownership information and bank structures. Access is also provided via WRDS.
Statista
Statista is a searchable database of statistics on a wide range of topics, including media, the environment, business and industry, sports, communication, health care and more. Data can be exported to Excel and charts can be exported as picture files or directly into PowerPoint.