Assignment: 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 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:

o Form 10-K SEC filings
o Management Discussion and Analysis
o Auditors' Report
o 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:

o How many analysts rated the company?
o What percentage rated it a strong buy?
o What was the average rating for the week?
o Did the average rating improve or decline relative to the previous week?