Economic Section
How can I obtain information about U.S. companies?
How can I obtain information about U.S. industries?
How can I track recent news and find articles about U.S. companies and industries?
Where can I find statistics?
How can I obtain information about investment opportunities in the United States?
How can I obtain information about taxation in the United States?
Where can I find an overview of Internet resources on business and trade?
Publicly held companies (i.e. companies which sell stocks to the general public) are required to disclose certain financial information to their shareholders and to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For this reason, it is often much easier to locate information on these companies than on privately held companies.
The BigBook
Search for 11 million companies by name, location, type of business, or combinations. Name, address, telephone number and business type given. Includes a detailed map, with a zoom-in feature to the city block level.
Big Yellow
Find over 16.5 million businesses across the USA via online yellow pages.
infoUSA.com
infoUSA.com is a business-to-business center for sales and marketing information on the Internet. ListBazaar.com, info, USA's list superstore, gives direct online access to the business and consumer mailing lists and sales leads. Free Business search available.
Telephone Directories on the Web
International coverage.
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Directories
Lycos Company Search
Allows users to search for companies by name, location, or industry. Provides phone number, ownership structure, stock quote, news quotes and link to company home page.
Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) D&B Business Background Reports available for a fee.
CorpTech Directory of Technology Companies
Provides descriptive information on over 40,000 U.S. high technology companies, including many small, privately-owned computer software and hardware firms, and many biotechnology firms. Also provides Company's Internet address and links to stock prices and charts, SEC files and news headlines.
Hoover's Online
Hoovers Corporate Directory is a searchable database, by company name, ticker symbol, location, industry, or sales, of more than 10,000 companies, with coverage of public, private, and international companies. The Earnings Reports is an alphabetical listing by company name. List of Lists includes Fortune 500, Inc 500, and Standard & Poors 500. Visit the News Center for a selection of top business news. The site also features Initial Public Offerings.
Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
Directory of American manufacturers. Search by company, product or brand name.
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Company Web Sites
Company websites often include information about company products and services, as well as press releases, financial statements, executive biographies, and links to subsidiaries.
Yahoo Company Directories
This is a large index to company directories, with a breakdown by type of business
CommerceNet
Lycos Company Search
Domain-Name Search
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SEC Disclosure Statements
Disclosure statements, the financial reports filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, provide extensive financial information. EDGAR - Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval Project - is a database of the disclosure forms publicly traded companies file with the SEC. Certain SEC documents (10K, 10Q, Annual Report and Prospectus) are available free from the EDGAR database. EDGAR holds financial filings for many publicly held U.S. companies going back to 1994 and for all public companies beginning in 1996. The 10K offers a comprehensive review of the company's past year of operations, including detailed financial information. The 10Q covers more recent financial results, but may also offer lesser known company events that never reach the press.
EDGAR Database of Corporate Reports
The EDGAR project at the Securities and Exchange Commission Homepage lists corporate annual reports, quarterlies, and related documents for companies that file electronically with the SEC. The EDGAR-Online is a business-to-business and web-based provider of business, financial and competitive information derived from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission data. (See The EDGAR Project: A Case Study in Disseminating Financial Information for a description of the EDGAR Project.)
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Financial Data & Investment Services
Holt's Daily Stock Market Reports
Market Guide Investment Center (financial ratios, industry sectors)
Moody's Investors Service
Mutual Funds Information
PCQuote (Real-time stock quotes)
Public Register's Annual Report Service (Fee-based outside the U.S.)
Standard & Poors Equity Investor Services
StreetLink Investor Information Center
Wall Street Research Net
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Job Search
America's Job Bank
Lists over 250,000 jobs from 1,800 State Employment Service offices nationwide.
CareerJournal
Job postings, career news and resources from the Wall Street Journal.
collegejournal.com
From DowJones, a guide for students on making the transition from collegian to professional
JobHunt: A Meta-List of On-Line Job-Search Resources and Services
Links to online jobs, job search sites and sites with more lists related to job hunting.
JobSafari
Directory of corporate Web sites with online job postings.
JobStar
Includes sections on writing resumes, career guides, and salary information.
JobWeb
Employment listings and other information for job seekers and those looking for employees.
The Monster Board
An online job bank where job seekers can submit and post resume free. U.S. and international jobs are listed.
NCS Career Magazine
Searchable job postings from major Internet newsgroups, resumes, employer profiles, career links and... more.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Labor and occupation forecasts from the United States federal government.
WorkIndex
Annotated guide to Internet resources in human resources, labor relations, benefits, training, technology, staffing, recruiting, leadership, motivation, insurance, relocation, legal issues and more.
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Industry Classification Codes
SIC Codes
Business information is often classified by product or industry. The most widely used industrial classification system in the United States is the Standard Industry Classification System (also known as SIC codes). SIC codes classify industry according to products and services. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) devised SIC codes as a guideline for reporting business statistics; the Bureau of the Census and other federal agencies use SIC codes to collect and publish data on business activity, but the system also is used for non-statistical purposes. Business directories are often indexed by SIC codes.
Standard Industry Classification (SIC) Index
Webster Online
Industrial Directory by SIC Codes
NAICS - North American Industry Classification System
A new classification system, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is being prepared to replace the old Standard Industry Classification (SIC) system. The last edition of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual was published in 1987. This new system updates the classifications to include many categories that did not exist in the past. The new code was phased into government statistical reporting requirements starting in 1997. New product areas (i.e. computers, software, and electronics) have been updated or included for the first time, as are new service industries.
NAICS Association
U.S. Bureau of Census NAICS site
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Market Research
American Demographics
American Marketing Association Homepage
FIND/SVP
Fuld & Company
Gallup Organization
Gartner Group
Advertising Research Company
Nielsen
Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals
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Trade Associations
Associations are valuable sources of industry and company information. Many association sites provide not only membership details and announcements but also industry overviews, reports, member directories, conference schedules, breaking business news, searchable databases, or electronic versions of journals, newsletters, and news releases.
American Association of Association Executives
American Management Association
Internet Public Library's Associations on the Net
Business Associations
American Chamber of Commerce (U.S.)
American Chamber of Commerce Executives
Better Business Bureau
Trade Shows
EXPOGuide
Trade Show and Conference Information.
ExpoWeb
A tool to help exhibitors and attendees locate the expositions in which they would like to participate, with online educational resources.
Trade Show Central
Tech Calendar
Find conferences, seminars, or trade shows keyword or event.
Yahoo - Conventions and Tradeshows
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Patents & Trademarks
Trademarks protect names, images, devices, short slogans, expressions and phrases that identify a person, a business or a product. Corporate names and logos may also be registered as trademarks. Although generic words cannot be registered for their dictionary meanings, they may be registered for unrelated products. Patent and trademark searches are intellectual property issues and governed by applicable intellectual property issues. A definitive patent or trademark search should be done by an epxert in the field. However, business researchers have many legitimate reasons to search patent and trademark databases - patent information can provide background on latest industry trends, highlighting, for example, the major players developers in a specific industry sector, and the direction of Research and Development efforts.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Background on how the trademark process works. Search capabilities on patent abstracts going back to 1976.
Commercial Patent Services
Chemical Patents Plus
Specialized patent information dating from 1971. Registration, searching, titles, and abstracts are free. There is a fee to display the complete text or images from patents.
Derwent
Offers international patent information in print, online and on CD-ROM (including industry-specific products). Direct access to their databases are not available via the Internet.
Micropatent
Free searching. The selected patents, including patent drawings, can be downloaded for a fee.
Thomas Register
Search on trade name field for trademarks.
Thomson & Thomson
Links to government agencies, laws and regulations, cases, discussion groups and intellectual property law firms and other resources. No direct trademark searching.
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Standards
Mandatory standards are set by government bodies and range from municipal building codes, to state regulations, to federal regulations. Many building codes and federal regulations as well as reference materials are developed by standard developing organizations (SDOs). The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Occupational Health and Safety Administration, for example, usually adopt existing standards. Generally, the text of the standard is not included in the text of the code or regulation; it must be obtained separately. Major players in an industry often form consortia to decide on the factors necessary for compatibility. Discussion and even implementation often precede the formal standard by years. Sometimes competing technologies evolve without standards, leaving the marketplace to decide the winner; often then the de facto becomes the standard. Voluntary standards are developed by trade, scientific or professional organizations using the process of consensus. The work of developing consensus standards is done by individuals who represent consumers, producers and other interested parties. Safety issues, market forces and the need for compatibility device influence industry's voluntary participation.
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was established in 1918. In the U.S., more than 200 organizations write standards that then are coordinated by ANSI. ANSI also sets development procedures. Standards that fit its criteria are designated "national standards" and are published with an acronym preceding the standards number.
National Standards System Network
U.S. Department of Defense Standardization Program
Major standard developing organizations (SDOs) and suppliers:
American Petroleum Institute
American Society for Testing and Materials
American Society of Mechanical Engineering
Document Center
Document Engineering Company
Information Handling Services (IHS)/Global Handling Services
National Information Standards Organization Network
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CURRENT NEWS
Newspaper and periodical articles can provide extensive and varied types of information on companies and industries - for example, historical background, new ventures, marketing campaigns, analyses of financial situations, and biographical profiles of key executives. Increasingly newspapers and magazines are being made available on the Internet, either as partial versions of a print edition or electronic journals. Fulltext periodical archives with indexing are usually available to subscribers.
Business Newspapers & Wire Services
Bizjournals
Bloomberg Personal
BusinessWire
CNN Money
Current Business News (Nando Times)
Media Links - Online Media Directory (Editor & Publisher)
Infoseek/Go News Center Collection of recent copy from major news services such as BusinessWire, PR Newswire, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and CNN
New York Times' Business section (registration required)
NewsPage (covering hundreds of business news sources)
PR Newswire
Reuters Business News Headlines (via Yahoo)
U.S. Business Daily Newspapers (NewsLink)
Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Yahoo Finance News site, which provides news, profiles, and current stock quote.
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Business Journals
Advertising Age
Business Magazines (NewsLink)
Business Week Online
Electronic Journals - Business unrestricted access only (University of Pennsylvania)
Fortune
News/Periodicals - International (MSU-CIBER)
Reed Business Information links to more than 130 electronic business and industry and trade publications
WebEc: The List of Economics Journals
Yahoo Business magazines
Company and Industry Rankings on the Internet
The Business Week 50
The Forbes Rankings
All Fortune Rankings (including the Fortune 500)
The Inc. 500
The IndustryWeek 1000
The IW 1000 is IndustryWeek's unique report on the world's 1,000 largest publicly held manufacturing companies based on revenue.
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The United States collects, analyzes, and disseminates more economic data than any other country. Until the 1920s, however, the federal government did not regularly produce detailed measures of economic performance and many current measures did not exist until the late 1940s. The United States does not have a central statistical office. There are only a few federal agencies that exist solely to create statistics, but over one hundred participate in statistical processes that have, over the years, been dictated by legislation in response to emerging needs. The major agencies involved in the dissemination of federal statistics are the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center Education Statistics, the Department of Agriculture's Statistical Reporting Service, and the Energy Information Administration. Some agencies analyze data from other sources. Examples are the Council of Economic Advisors, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Fedstats provides direct links to most federal government statistics. The White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room also provides a constantly updated overview of U.S. economic indicators, with links to the responsible agency. The Statistical Abstract of the U.S. is the statistical yearbook of the United States.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics timeseries data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics public database, called LABSTAT, provides current and historical data for 26 surveys, as well as numerous press releases.
Bureau of the Census
In addition to the Population Estimates, the government regularly (every 5 years) conducts extensive censuses of business areas. 1987 and 1992 are the two most recent business census years. Some of the 1992 data is still being processed. Different census reports cover these areas: Construction, Retail Trade, Manufacturing Industries, Service Industries, Transportation, Mining, and Agriculture.
Federal Reserve Board
This site includes links to the federal reserve banks and other related federal agencies. Provides current interest rate statistics, bank prime rates, foreign exchange rates, U.S. government securities rates, conventional mortgage rates.
Economy Track
Compiled by USA Today. Includes economy reports, statistics, forecasts, factory orders, federal reserve reports, housing starts, gross domestic product (gdp), leading economic indicators index, prices, productivity, retail sales, trade, unemployment, and related links.
Statistical Resources on the Web
"Index to statistical web sites and individual statistical publications arranged by broad subject category from the University of Michigan Documents Center."
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Trade Statistics
Under the 1988 Omnibus Trade Act, the U.S. Commerce Department created the Office of Business Analysis, which was charged with collecting international trade data from other government agencies. In 1994, the Office of Business Analysis re-opened as STAT-USA, an independent, self-supporting service that offers an extensive collection of government export and trade information, including trade leads, market research reports, directories of exporters and descriptions of specific countries. STAT-USA is a subscription-based Internet service. Some of the data is available as a a CD-ROM database (the National Trade Data Bank).
The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration (ITA) provides overviews of international trade markets. Features at the ITA site include trade statistics; information on most of the leading markets of the world; coverage of key industrial and services clusters; information on export programs and initiatives; and information on antidumping and countervailing duty legislation. Go to the ITA's Office of Trade and Economic Analysis for free access to a selection of trade statistics. See a Comprehensive Guide to International Trade Terms (Commerce Dept) for a description of U.S, trade agreements and trade vocabulary. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative negotiates all U.S. trade agreements and prepares the annual National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.
Trade Data Online
Information on the value of U.S. and Canadian imports and domestic exports for more than 5,000 commodities in more than 500 industries for more than 200 countries. Search by keywords or SIC (industry) or HS6 (commodity) code.
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Cost of Living
Relocation Salary Calculator
The Center for Mobility Resources, which sponsors this site, maintains cost of living information for 450 cities in the USA.
Currency Exchange Rates
N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank:Foreign exchange rates
What is a dollar worth?
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State Economic Development Offices
CASE - Council of American States in Europe
Piper Resources - State and Local Government on the Net (Use search term: "economic development")
The World Wide Web Virtual Library - Law - State Government
Entrepreneurs
Bizquest
Entrepreneurs on the Web
Inc. Online
The Inc. Magazine Web site, which bills itself as the "Web Site for Growing Companies." Includes an index to current and archived articles (some are full-text) from the print publication; the Inc. 500 (with company statistical data and links to Web sites
Small Business Administration
Small Business Advancement National Center
U.S. Business Advisor
A "one-stop electronic link to government for business". Links to information are divided into 5 categories: a frequently-asked question section, how-to guides (such as starting, expanding, and financing a business, IRS publications and forms, and venture capital), two categories arranged by subject, and current news/press releases.
Yahoo's Small Business Information
Extensive listing of small business resources.
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Franchises
American Association of Franchisees and Dealers
A Consumer Guide to Buying a Franchise
Fran Info (Franchise Information)
International Franchise Association
Venture Capital
ACE-Net (Angel Capital Electronic Network)
Sponsored by SBA's Office of Advocacy, this site "gives new options to both small companies looking for investors and investors looking for promising opportunities." The searchable database is available by subscription only, but other portions of this site are free, such as small business information available at educational institutions (e.g. Harvard, Babson College) and upcoming events of interest to small business.
Technology Capital Network
Venture Capital Resource Library
An index to "quality venture capital resources by industry sector," links to current business news, and corporate financial information (via EDGAR), and SEC rules, regulations, and forms. Free market alerts and news releases available.
PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree Survey
"A quarterly survey of venture capital investments throughout the United States." Companies can be searched by company name, by state, and by industry.
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Real Estate
HomeFair
Real estate portal with articles on buying and financing a home, along with interactive calculators - a salary calculator for comparing the cost of living in different locales, calculators for moving costs and qualifying for a mortgage.
Best Places to Live (CNN)
This site profiles America's 300 largest metro areas. Search by city name or by a combination of nine factors, including: weather, economy, housing, health, education, crime, transportation, leisure, arts and culture.
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TAXATION
The Digital Daily|
The main site for U.S. Internal Revenue Service on the Web. This site contains a great deal of information for both individual and business taxpayers, as well a downloadable tax forms, instructions and IRS publications. Individuals can use an interactive tool Tax Trailsto find out the answers to frequently asked questions about exemptions, deductions and credits.
U.S. Tax Code Online
FTA Links to State Tax Pages
Federation of Tax Administrators (of U.S. states) provides links to internet sites of state treasury departments . The FTA site describes the general contents of each state's site within its link page. The site also includes several charts showing the 50 states' tax rates for income taxes, sales taxes and many other taxes.
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Internet Subject Guides
A Business Researcher's Interests
Business Compass
Dow Jones Business Directory
Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet
U.S. Business Advisor
Internet Directories
Business - Berkeley Public Library
Business and Commerce - Galaxy
Business and Economics - Internet Public Library
Business and Economy - Yahoo
An Introduction to Internet Business Resources - Rutgers University
International Business Resources On the WWW - Michigan State University
More FAQs
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Ambassador
Offices/Departments
Key Officers
Public Affairs Section
Economic Section
Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
USAID
HHS/OS and CDC
U.S. Commercial Service
Office of Defense Attache
