• Describe how investors can use the Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) EDGAR | Search tools (Links to an external site.)web page to quickly research a companys financial information filed on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.
• Identify the differences between the Annual Report sent to shareholders and the Annual Report on Form 10-K, which must be filed with the SEC.
• Describe the contents of the Form 10-K SEC filing include the following elements:
  • Management Discussion and Analysis
  • Auditors Report
  • Selected Financial Data
• Discuss how the SECs requirement for domestic and foreign companies using US GAAP to provide their financial statements in the XBRL format can improve financial reporting?
• Most publicly traded companies are examined by numerous analysts. Locate analysts ratings about a company of your choice by visiting a website such as Yahoo Finance (Links to an external site.). Provide a comparison over time and across companies in the same industry by answering the following questions:
  • How many analysts rated the company?
  • What are analysts predicting in terms of earnings and revenues?
  • How do the estimates compare against historical results?
  • How do the growth projections for the company compare with the average projections for the S&P 500?