Business

It is easier to find information about public companies (those that sell stock to shareholders) than about private companies (those that are privately owned by an individual or a group).  Public companies in the United States are required by law to file documents with the Securities and Exchange commission (SEC).  These include the 10K (annual)and 10Q (quarterly) reports.  In addition, public companies issue an annual report to shareholders.
When looking for information about a company, consider both information from the company itself (e.g., the company website, SEC filings, press releases, etc.) as well as information about the company written by others (e.g., newspaper articles, analyst reports, articles by professors, etc.).
Finding information about a company includes the following steps:

• Get an overview of the company, find out if it is public or private
• Find the company website and review it carefully, particularly the sections for investors or media/press.
• If the company is public, find relevant 10K and 10Q reports and annual reports to shareholders
• Search for news, magazine and other periodical articles for information.  This may be the only way to find information on private companies.
• If the company is public, search for analyst and brokerage reports. These sometimes contain an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).
• Identify competitors.

Company web sites can provide a wealth of information, particularly for public companies.  Look for press releases, investor information including presentations and events and filings such as SEC filings, annual reports or corporate social responsibility or "community" reports.  Use information from the company carefully and watch for bias or an overly-optimistic interpretation of factual data.

Information on private companies can be sparse.  Private companies are not required to file any financial data in the U.S., with exception of registration data filed with the Secretary of State, in the state where they are registered.  Databases like Reference USA have some basic data on private companies.  Often 'local press' have more stories on a locally based company than national newspapers. (e.g. Jacksonville Times-Union news versus The New York Times).  Local newspapers can be found on Proquest and  LexisNexis Academic.

Beta is an estimated measure of the expected response of a stock, bond, or portfolio to the overall market. If a company has a beta of 1.3 has an expected excess return of 1.3 times the market excess return. Beta provides a means for measuring portfolio risk and proivdes a strong relationship of expected return