Corporate reports filed with the SEC are now available on the Web at the EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system) Web site, http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

First, read about the EDGAR system; then go to the search page http://www.sec.gov/edgar/

searchedgar/webusers.htm. To see the type of information that companies must file with the SEC, use the search feature to locate a recent filing by Microsoft. What types of reports did you find, and what was the purpose of each report?