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Basic Business Info

Basic Business Information about the United States

Publicly held companies (i.e. companies which sell stocks to the general public) are required to disclose certain financial information to their shareholders and to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  For this reason, it is often much easier to locate information on these companies than on privately held companies.

Yellow Pages

  • The BigBook
    Search for 11 million companies by name, location, type of business, or combinations. Name, address, telephone number and business type given. Includes a detailed map, with a zoom-in feature to the city block level. 
  • Switchboard 

Directories

  • Companies Online
    Allows users to search for companies by name, location, or industry.  Provides phone number, ownership structure, stock quote, news quotes and link to company home page.
  • Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) D&B Business Background Reports available for a fee.
  • CorpTech Directory of Technology Companies
    Provides descriptive information on over 40,000 U.S. high technology companies, including many small, privately-owned computer software and hardware firms, and many biotechnology firms. Also provides Company's Internet address and links to stock prices and charts, SEC files and news headlines. 
  • Hoover's Online
    Hoovers Corporate Directory is a searchable database, by company name, ticker symbol, location, industry, or sales, of more than 10,000 companies, with coverage of public, private, and international companies.   The Earnings Reports is an alphabetical listing by company name. List of Lists includes Fortune 500, Inc 500, and Standard & Poors 500.  
  • Thomas Register of American Manufacturers is a directory of American manufacturers.

Company Web Sites

Company websites often include information about company products and services, as well as press releases, financial statements, executive biographies, and links to subsidiaries.

SEC Disclosure Statements

Disclosure statements, the financial reports filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, provide extensive financial information. EDGAR - Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval Project - is a database of the disclosure forms publicly traded companies file with the SEC.    Certain SEC documents (10K, 10Q, Annual Report and Prospectus) are available free from the EDGAR database. EDGAR holds financial filings for many publicly held U.S. companies going back to 1994 and for all public companies beginning in 1996. The 10K offers a comprehensive review of the company's past year of operations, including detailed financial information. The 10Q covers more recent financial results, but may also offer lesser known company events that never reach the press.

EDGAR Database of Corporate Reports
The EDGAR project at the Securities and Exchange Commission Homepage lists corporate annual reports, quarterlies, and related documents for companies that file electronically with the SEC. The EDGAR online website provides Multiple Search Options for researching company filings and Corporate Profiles. 

Financial Data & Investment Services  

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