Question: Compare the balance sheets of two different companies, and present to the class a summary of the similarities and differences of the two companies. You may obtain the balance sheets you need from one of the following sources:

1. Your school or local library.

2. The investor relations department of each company.

3. The company's Web site on the Internet.

4. EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval), the electronic archives of financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The EDGAR address is http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm. To obtain annual report information, click on "Search for Company Filings," then click on "Companies & other Filers." Type in a company name on the "EDGAR Company Search" form. EDGAR will list the reports available for the selected company. A company's annual report (along with other information) is provided in its annual 10-K report to the SEC. Click on the 10-K (or 10-K405) report for the year you wish to download. If you wish, you can save the whole 10-K report to a file and then open it with your word processor.