Embassy of the United States

Trade and Commerce

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. 
Big Yellow
Find over 16.5 million businesses across the USA via online yellow pages. 
SalesLeads USA
Search for businesses or people by name with American Directory Assistance or search by type of business with American Yellow Pages 
Switchboard 
Telephone Directories on the Web
International coverage.

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.    Hoovers Mirror Site includes top 10 stories--updated weekly. And the Initial Public Offerings is a new feature.
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.
Yahoo Company Directories
This is a large index to company directories, with a breakdown by type of business
CommerceNet
CompaniesOnline Search 
Domain-Name Search

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 Development Site (NYU) at New York University provides Multiple Search Options for researching company filings and Corporate Profiles.  (See The EDGAR Project: A Case Study in Disseminating Financial Information for a description of the EDGAR Project.)

Disclosure
Includes top U.S. and international companies lists, an SEC Filing Guide,  stock quotes for U.S. and Canadian exchanges, and company news headlines.  Fee-based service provides real-time filings access and advanced filings searches using multiple search variables or keywords.

Financial Data & Investment Services

Holt's Daily Stock Market Reports 
InvestQuest  (includes Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Industry Lists)
Market Guide Investment Center (financial ratios, industry sectors)
Moody's Handbook of Dividend Achievers 1996
Mutual Funds Information
Quicken.Com Investment Information
PCQuote  (Real-time stock quotes)
Public Register's Annual Report Service (Fee-based outside the U.S.)
Standard & Poors Equity Investor Services
StockNet-USA

Job Search

America's Job Bank
Lists over 250,000 jobs from 1,800 State Employment Service offices nationwide.
careers.wsj.com
Job postings, career news and resources  from the Wall Street Journal.
JobHunt: A Meta-List of On-Line Job-Search Resources and Services
Links to online jobs, job search sites and sites with more lists related to job hunting.
JobSmart
Includes sections on writing resumes, career guides, and salary information.
JobWeb
Employment listings and other information for job seekers and those looking for employees.
The Monster Board
An online job bank where job seekers can submit and post resume free. U.S. and international jobs are listed.
NCS Career Magazine
"Searchable job postings from major Internet newsgroups, resumes, employer profiles, career links and... more."
Online Career Center (OCC)
Browsable and searchable database of job listings and resumes.
WorkIndex
Annotated guide to Internet resources in "human resources, labor relations, benefits, training, technology, staffing, recruiting, leadership, motivation, insurance, relocation, legal issues and more."