Assignment 5

Financial Reporting and the SEC

In an eight- to ten-page paper (not including the title and reference pages) research and discuss the SEC’s company filings requirements. In your paper:  

• Describe how investors can use the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) EDGAR database  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.to quickly research a company’s financial information filed on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.
• Identify the differences between the Annual Report send to shareholders and the Annual Report on Form 10-K, which must be filed with the SEC.
• Describe the contents of:
  • Form 10-K SEC filings
  •  Management Discussion and Analysis
  • Auditors’ Report
  • Selected Financial Data
• Discuss how the SEC”s 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. Find analysts’ ratings about a company of your choice by visiting biz.yahoo.com/I.  Provide a comparison over time and across companies in the same industry by answering the following questions:
  • How many analysts rated the company?
  • What percentage rated it a strong buy?
  • What was the average rating for the week?
  •  Did the average rating improve or decline relative to the previous week?