This guide was prepared by the Business subject specialist for the Dalhousie community. These resources have been selected as excellent starting points for academic research on companies. For further research assistance, please contact Dr. Joyline Makani
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Related Guides: Marketing & Advertising, Industry Research, Statistics & Data
When doing research on specific companies it is important to establish from the beginning whether the company is:
This type of information is usually available in company directories listed in a section below.
Public companies sell their shares on the stock market. They are legally obligated to disclose financial information to their shareholders and to legislative bodies. To fulfill this obligation Public companies produce reports, which are sent to the shareholders and filed with regulatory bodies like the Canadian Securities Administrators or the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
The company SEC filings are a crucial source of financial information and acts as a basis for historic analysis and forecasting. They contain not only the company's financial statements, tables, notes, and management reports, but also anything else that the company is required to disclose.
These are the companies that do not trade on stock exchange. Information on private companies is often difficult to find. Begin by searching market research reports. Market Research reports provide valuable and timely information about the industry, its market size, key players, mergers and acquisitions, costs, profitability etc.
BLOOMBERG
Provides financial, economic and government information covering all market sectors. Offers real-time trading data, company financials, market data spanning more than 20 years, customizable market monitors, macro-economic data, news, and much more for stocks, bonds, commodities, and other major markets all in one place. Bloomberg User Guide and Getting Started Cheat Sheet with Essential Codes
NOTE: At Dalhousie we have access to 12 Bloomberg Terminals. One terminal is located in the Killam Library, Learning Commons. Ten terminals are located in the Risk Lab on the 2nd floor of the Rowe Building. Additional terminals are located in the 4th floor computer lab in the Rowe Building — you can’t miss their distinctive keyboards! Bloomberg is available to Dalhousie University faculty, staff, and students only. You must create log in credentials and a cell phone number will be necessary to authenticate a new user.
DATASTREAM (only accessible from a dedicated workstation in the Killam Learning Commons.)
Provides access to significant historical time series data including equity, index, commodity, currency, bond, futures, options, and economic data. The Excel add-on allows researchers to download data on multiple securities simultaneously. Also provides access to ASSET4 ESG data which includes 500 metrics on more than 4,700 global companies covering environmental, social, and governance factors.
Provides access to most public securities documents and information filed by public companies and investment funds with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)." Available in both languages French and English. (The SEDI system allows you to search for insider filings.)
Access to the SEC's EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) filings by corporations, funds, and individuals. N.B. You can also access EDGAR filings through the Mergent and LexisNexis databases.
Provides links to the websites of SEC-equivalent regulatory bodies around the world.
Provides access to UK corporate filings. Click on WebCheck to gain access to basic company information for free; full documents may be purchased for a nominal fee.