FINANCE
Reaching a goal in business and in life generally requires a lot of planning, and Finance is an invaluably important part of it. This subject involves the future, and in a way that similar subjects do not. The business, accounting, insurance, and economics resource guides are relevant to this one.
DATABASES
EBSCO
As ever, EBSCO is a great way to do research. It is actually an aggregator, and that means that it searches lots of different databases at the same time. For business-related information, one might want to select these particular ones (to avoid getting irrelevant hits):
Academic Search Premier
Business Source Complete
Legal Collection
Newspaper Source
Regional Business News
Vente et Gestion (business journals in French)
Economia y Negocios (business journals in Spanish)
Hospitality & Tourism Index
Academic Search Complete
Electronic Journals
This allows you to browse ULM's available journals by name, so you can know very quickly whether or not we have the publication you want.
JSTOR - The scholarly journal archive
There are many journals on JSTOR-- it means "Journal storage." You can search by issues and genres, and inside the article text itself. JSTOR brings you journal pages just as they appear in print-- and just about as usefully.
LexisNexis Academic Search
LexisNexis has devoted a specific part of its powerful database interface to Business research (accessible by clicking the corresponding link on the left of the front-page). Using it will be extremely useful as it has detailed company information, news, journals, and more. Also, don't forget the general news or the Legal Research option.
Mergent Online
This resource can produce a lot of things, including very detailed profiles of companies with codes, numbers, recent stocks, contact information, summaries of what they are, financial info, competitors, and more. Do remember, though, that it only goes back as far as 1997. If you want to dates earlier than that, you'll have to use the print. As this time, they are shelved in the stacks.
GOVERNMENTAL INTERNET RESOURCES
NAICS
In 1997 the North American Industry Classification System was developed to classify industries, replacing the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) from 1997. This website will show you the latest additions to NAICS and search for numbers and titles.
SEC Filings & Forms (EDGAR)
"All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database."
TreasuryDirect
“"TreasuryDirect is the first and only financial services website that lets you buy and redeem securities directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in paperless electronic form." This is also a place to find information on things like U.S. savings bonds.
INTERNET RESOURCES
American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA)
This organization has existed since 1919 and is “devoted to investor protection.” There are a number of free articles and documents on this site, such as relevant law and regulations, articles on issues of interest to investors, different types of news, and much more.
Bloomberg
This website has news, articles, market data, and many useful pages such as Commodity Futures, which shows values and graphs on important commodities. There is also related news at the right of the page, and more pages on the rest of the Bloomberg website may be useful as well, like their Currency Calculator.
Bondsonline
As the name suggests, there is information on bonds here. There are a variety of tools available, such as a chart center, quote center, news, and other useful features.
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)
"The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established in 1848, is a leading futures and options on futures exchange." This website has much market data of various types, as well as a glossary, tutorials, news, and much more.
CNN Money
CNN's financial website has news, feature articles, stock information, employment help, video, and other things expected from a news magazine. There are a lot useful pages on this site, such as a list of world markets, financial calculator (not as good as Bloomberg's) and industry specific pages.
The Investment Company Institute (ICI)
This is the national association of U.S. investment companies and has been around since 1940. This website has free research newsletters & reports in .pdf format and html that can be browsed by title or subject. There is also news, transcripts of speeches made by notable members, advice for investing, and more.
Morningstar
This site offers information on funds, stocks, and other topics. It has advice, articles, news, RSS feeds, discussion boards, and more.
NASD
NASD is about 60 years old and is a "private-sector provider of financial regulatory services." Under the Rules & Regulation tab, the website has a glossary, articles, speeches, and other useful things. Further useful news and information can be found on the site as well.
NASDAQ
Unsurprisingly, the NASDAQ website has a lot of useful and trusted information. It is customizable, and can show quotes, news, market activity, and much more.
NYSE Euronext
The NYSE website is well known and polished. This is a good place to find prices on many products, such as bonds, commodities, funds, etc., as well as different types of news, statistics, and more. The site is also available in four languages, and is a part of nyse.com
Do keep in mind that there are other sites like this covering finance for other parts of the world.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association(SIFMA)
"Born of the merger between The Securities Industry Association and The Bond Market Association, SIFMA is the single powerful voice for strengthening markets and supporting investors -- the world over." There is free access to Market Research, Statistical Tables, Surveys, news (including emergency alerts), and more. It has separate sites for the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
ThomasNet
"ThomasNet, powered by Thomas Register® and Thomas Regional®, is an industrial search engine that provides one source for finding the exact product, service, or supplier –quickly and efficiently. ThomasNet provides direct access to the detailed information needed to make a purchasing or specifying decision, including line-item product details, CAD drawings, and more." It is free to join, and there is a discussion board.
Of course, there is always more. Try searching the ULM catalog or the LSU link below. There are also other NetLibrary e-Books in the catalog on a variety of topics, so do remember them.
Also, please report promptly any ridiculous errors on this page to me: niemla@ulm.edu