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To get the fuller story of how a company is doing, you have to struggle through the notes, lists, and tables that go along with the line items in financial reports. The Notes in a 10-K can be three times longer than the rest of the report, and it is very hard not to miss important details. But starting next year, your computer will be able to read all the notes for you, and can even flow them into your Excel spreadsheet for instant, granular analysis. Read the rest of this entry »

Maintaining the SEC’s current disclosure regulations is an invitation for a repeat economic crisis, said EDGAR Online president Phil Moyer, responding to the Commissions request for comments on a pending bill to create a centralized database and change the way asset-based securities get  reported. The good news is that the technical solution already exits to make ABS reporting transparent, easy, and inexpensive for both issuers and investors. We invite our readers to join us in sending their comments to the SEC. Read the rest of this entry »

Graffiti artists are now using light instead of spray paint for hit-and-run guerilla communications in urban settings. The laser leaves no trace, but drawings can be projected onto huge buildings and seen for miles. The artists can disappear as fast as they can slam closed a laptop, switch off a laser pointer, or take off their glasses. Read the rest of this entry »

“The Great Depression: A Diary” is a firsthand account of hard times and uncertainty, written by a lawyer in Youngstown, Ohio, who struggled to keep his practice going while banks and businesses collapsed. He was not clear if the government was helping or hurting. Sound familiar? Read the rest of this entry »

Which of the following can be found in Dubai?

1. The world’s largest skyscraper
2. A honeymoon suite with a live whale shark in the window
3. A beach with a cooling system under the sand
4. An indoor ski slope covered with real snow with a chair and tow lift
5. A man-made island complex so large it can be seen from space
6. More construction workers than actual citizens

Check your answer. Read the rest of this entry »

With 123 bank failures this year and more to come, you may be wondering about your own bank. Try the Texas Ratio for a quick snapshot of how healthy it is. Just take your bank’s most recent report and divide the bad stuff on the books by the good stuff. Let’s hope the ratio is no where near 1:1. Of course, that’s assuming your bank is fully disclosing weak assets. Read the rest of this entry »

The Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm based in Portland, Maine, reviewed SEC filings from 2,000 publicly traded companies and came up with a list of five chief executives they’re calling the “Highest Paid Worst Performers” of 2008.

Match the CEO with the correct company.

Check your answers.

Read the rest of this entry »

We asked our Senior Analyst “EJ”, Elias-John Kies, to do a little showing off for our many subscribers who live inside Excel, and are looking closely at banks. His analysis, updated within seconds of the banks’ disclosures, is just one example of what you can accomplish when your worksheet is directly connected to SEC data, via a pipeline through EDGAR Online. It’s the fastest, most comprehensive, and most instantly re-usable data available. See how fast and deep you can dive into banks’ data. Read the rest of this entry »

The official XBRL for Dummies book is now available in printed form as well as an e- version for reading on Kindle. Co-Authored by Charles Hoffman and Liv Watson, the first chapter gives an excellent, comprehensive explanation of XBRL, and the fourth chapter leads you through a primer. Both business and technical readers will get a lot of solid, practical information along with a theoretical understanding of what XBRL is all about. Read the rest of this entry »

The SEC requires companies to post the same Annual and Quarterly reports on their corporate websites as they file with the SEC. But the newly required XBRL-formatted documents were designed for computers to read, not humans, and these documents can be confusing for viewers. EDGAR Online’s new XBRL IR Solution solves that issue by rendering XBRL documents into clear and easy-to-read pages, including interactive charts and graphs that investors can manipulate to find the information they are looking for. Click the chart for a Flash presentation of how the XBRL IR Solution works and how to quickly and easily add it to your corporate website. Companies can both comply with SEC regulations, and give investors a clear, concise view of their financials.