Home - BUAD 341 - Managerial Finance - LibGuides at Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Learning about your Company

MU VIDEO Overview - 3:56 - How to be thinking about positioning your company analysis.

Researching a company and how well that company is performing has three basic components:

Information about the company itself (financial, operational, strategy, philosophy, etc.) ;
Information about the industry and the company's primary competitors (market size, market concentration, barriers to entry, etc.) ;
Information about the general economic or social conditions facing the company and/or industry (issues or conditions that all companies in the industry are experiencing).

From these three basic pieces, you should be able to compare / contrast your company against its primary competitors and standard industry performance metrics. This will allow you to derive an informed analysis about how well absolutely (example: is profitable / is losing money) or relatively (example: very low ROI compared to competitors or the industry norm) your company is doing. There is typically no "right" answer; but rather your analysis of the situation should inform your opinion or recommendations about the company.

Basic Company Information

MU Video Overview - 10:41 - Things to be on the lookout for with the basic overview resources

There are a few specific resources that will assist you in getting a basic overview of your company and some preliminary information about its competitors. This is typically not really in depth reporting, but does allow you to get your bearings about the company you are researching.

Ticker Symbol Lookup This link opens in a new window
Obtain the ticker symbol for publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE ) or Nasdaq. Other exchanges located around the world are also included. Company research for publicly traded companies is easier if you know the ticker symbol.
MarketLine / Medtrack Company Profiles This link opens in a new window
Basic overview of thousands of companies. Includes major officers, short company history, major themes and competitors along with a SWOT analysis.
International Directory of Company Histories This link opens in a new window
Entries typically contain 3-10 pages of narrative, major events, sometimes chronological timeline of events, and a short bibliography for further reading.

Finding a Theme and Additional Company Information

MU VIDEO Instructions - 2:45 - Identifying a theme for your company analysis using Business Source Complete

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Make use of the drop down menu in Business Source Complete to search by company ticker symbol. This will significantly improve your search results.
Newspaper Source This link opens in a new window
Local or regional newspapers can be more knowledgeable about a company with a large facility or footprint in a community. Local reporting may have a better "feel" for the state of local operations or labor relations than national sources.
EconLit ( with Full Text; inclusive of all AEA journals ) This link opens in a new window
If your company or the industry in which it operates is subject to specific macro (anti-trust; industry litigation) or micro (network externalities) economic forces then EconLit would be a good resource to consult for additional information.
Wall Street Journal ( 1889 - Present ) This link opens in a new window

Company Financial Information

MU Video Instructions - 12:12 - Using SEC's EDGAR (CLASSIC interface) to obtain financial data

EDGAR : US Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) Filings This link opens in a new window
IMPORTANT : WHEN viewing results, use the CLASSIC version - upper right corner of the results. It is much easier to get ALL the financials from a filing vs. one a a time with the new version.

The SEC’s EDGAR database provides free public access to AS REPORTED corporate financial information. All public companies (except foreign companies and companies with less than $10 million in assets and 500 shareholders) are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR.

MU Video Instructions - 4:22 - Using Yahoo! Finance to obtain historical share price data

Yahoo! Finance : Historical Stock Prices This link opens in a new window
Download historical share prices in spreadsheet ready format.

Industry Information

MU VIDEO Instructions - 3:40 - Understanding NAICS

North American Industrial Classification System ( NAICS ) This link opens in a new window
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.

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MU VIDEO Instructions - 13:33 - Using Industry Surveys

Thematic Research ( CFRA ) This link opens in a new window
Includes over 350 articles written by CFRA’s analysts and strategists throughout the year on thematic topics that include sector strategy, industry analysis, and ETF and mutual fund content. This research supplements industry survey and company research with themes encountered by analysts throughout the year.
Sub-Industry Outlooks ( CFRA ) This link opens in a new window
An interactive Sector Scorecard allows users to drill down to sub-industries for fundamental outlooks on roughly 125 sub-industries across 11 sectors and 68 industries within coverage. Each includes a fundamental outlook of Positive, Negative or Neutral and includes index performance details and comparisons.

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MU VIDEO Instructions - 12:58 - Using Industry Financial Reports from BizMiner

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Business Environment

Survey of Current Business This link opens in a new window
Definitive resource for statistical information (International aspects, National, Regional, Industry) along with explanatory narrative about the current state of the US economy.
Current Economic Conditions ( aka, the Beige Book by the Federal Reserve ) This link opens in a new window
Commonly known as the Beige Book, this report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is also prepared for each report.
US Dept of Commerce : Bureau of Economic Analysis : Interactive Data This link opens in a new window
This service provide a common means for accessing national, international, regional or industry statistics; print, save or export data / reports; chart the data to make it visually appealing. An excellent resource for determining the general growth of various industries over the last several years.

Library Search ( nearly everything )

APA Citation Style and Grammar Guidelines

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association : the official guide to APA style ( APA Manual ) This link opens in a new window
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2020. 7th ed.
Written as a guide for contributors to A.P.A. journals, this is also useful to students who need to know recommended forms for presenting bibliographies, footnotes, tables, and figures.
Location: Reserve -- Permanent BF76.7 .P83x 2020 ( at Reserves behind circulation desk; 4 hour loan )
APA formatting and Style Guide : General Format ( OWL ) This link opens in a new window
APA formatting and Style Guide for ARTICLES ( OWL ) This link opens in a new window
APA formatting : Reference List Basics ( OWL - 3 min VIDEO ) This link opens in a new window
APA formatting : Reference List for ELECTRONIC Sources ( OWL ) This link opens in a new window

Tutorial: APA Citations 7th Edition

APA Style and Grammar Guidelines This link opens in a new window
APA Style provides a foundation for effective scholarly communication because it helps writers present their ideas in a clear, concise, and inclusive manner.

APA Citation Style for Capital IQ Reports

General Format:

[Report Name ( [ Version, if applicable] ) for [ Company Name(s) ], Year(s), S&P Captial IQ database, retrieved [ Month Day, Year ].

Examples:

Annual Cash Flow Statement for Union Pacific Corp., 2016, S&P Capital IQ database, retrieved March 8, 2018.

Annual Cash Flow Statement for Union Pacific Corp., 2010-2017, S&P Capital IQ database, retrieved March 8, 2018.

Balance Sheet (with Footnotes & Descs) for International Business Machines Corp, 2010-2014, S&P Capital IQ database, retrieved January 8, 2015.

Comparative Common Size Annual Income Statement, for Wal-Mart, Sears, and Target Corp, 2017, S&P Capital IQ database, retrieved March 6, 2018.

Subject Librarian

Scott Anderson

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Office: Library,
Lower Level 102A ( LL102A )

717-871-7030

Subjects: Accounting, Business Administration, Computer Science, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Mathematics

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Journals by Name ( title search or browse by discipline ) This link opens in a new window

BUAD 341 - Managerial Finance: Home

Student Evaluation of Scott

Learning about your Company

Basic Company Information

Finding a Theme and Additional Company Information

Company Financial Information

Industry Information

Business Environment

Library Search ( nearly everything )

APA Citation Style and Grammar Guidelines

APA Citation Style for Capital IQ Reports

Subject Librarian

Library Services