THE BEECHMONT CREST ONLINE GUIDE TO STOCKS AND INVESTING
RESEARCHING THE SECURITIES OF INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES
Suppose that you are interested in acquiring the stock of Microsoft, Motorola--- or perhaps the stock of a new start-up firm. How do you go about researching the company and the securities that it offers for sale?
You should of course read financial publications like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune. The financial press is a rich source of articles about general investing strategies as well as individual companies.
To understand the investment opportunities in a company at a deeper level, you can avail yourself of the following materials:
Security prospectus: The security prospectus is an SEC requirement for firms issuing new securities in the primary market. The security prospectus provides information about the securities to be offered for sale, and extensive information about the company issuing them.
Annual reports: Every publicly traded company is obligated to prepare an annual report and distribute it to its stockholders. The annual report contains information about the company’s operations and current financial status. Most companies also publish a quarterly financial report that includes an income statement. These can often be downloaded directly from corporate websites.
Standard and Poor’s / Moody’s Publications: Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s publish detailed information about individual companies for investors. Both companies publish written reports, and also offer information about companies online.
The Value Line Investment Survey: Value Line offers an extensive selection of online and written reports about a wide variety of companies.
SEC Reports: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires publicly held companies to disclose information at regular intervals. Publicly held firms must file the following documents as specified below:
Form 8-K: This monthly report lists any significant events that would be of interest to investors/shareholders, including the acquisition or disposition of assets, financial position, and debt.
Form 10-K: This annual form includes an extensive account of the company’s operations results and financial position.