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Researching Your Employer

USW Strategic Campaigns Department

USW Strategic Campaigns Research Manual

Updated January, 2009 2

Table of Contents Introduction The Big Pieces The Little Pieces Getting to Know Your Sources A Primer on Financial Statements



Introduction

The employers we face today are far different than many of us started with years ago. They tend to be larger, often transnational, and stronger. Their attacks on our contracts are often more vicious and almost always more sophisticated. Many companies will not settle for anything less than the complete gutting of our strength—and often the elimination of the union.

Using the Strategic Campaigns Department’s Building Power training program USW members have been fighting back against their employer’s attacks. Local unions have been identifying goals, developing messages, mobilizing members and launching effective tactics as part of impressive strategic campaigns. The result has been stronger local unions and better contracts for our members.

While Communications

and Action Teams fuel member mobilization, it is research that fuels strategy development. Union activists and campaigners need to know how their employers work, how they make decisions and how they make their profits in order to run effective campaigns.

Sometimes the answers

are clear: a small employer operating a single location with just a few loyal customers. Most of the time the answers are much more complicated: giant corporations, dozens of product lines sold on an open market, hundreds of locations, thousands of shareholders, and often several distinct industries.

Our job is to make sense of all this; to understand how the employer operates and how it makes decisions; to understand the environment the employer lives in and how the company is growing. More than just understanding all of these business factors, we need to find a clear and effective way to communicate all this information to union leadership and activists.



This manual will get you started in thinking about the corporate structure of your employer and how that impacts your bargaining position. Later in this manual you will find an overview of some sources that are valuable in researching an employer. But remember, not every source is available for every employer and if you work for a non-profit, public sector, or privately held employer you’ll find that many of the sources featured in this manual are not available on your employer (SEC filings, analyst reports, etc.). That doesn’t mean that the information here isn’t valuable to you (some of the resources in this manual apply only to public sector or non-profit employers), but you should be aware that different types of information are available for different types of employers. Getting More Help

If you’re having trouble finding information on a privately held, non-profit or public sector employer or looking to dig deeper and find more comprehensive information on your employer, contact Patrick Young in the Strategic Campaigns Department for a copy of our complete Manual on Strategic Corporate Research.

Email: [email protected] Phone: 412-562-2424

Mail: Patrick Young

USW Strategic Campaigns Department 5 Gateway Center Pittsburgh, PA 15222



The Big Question First, let’s take a look at the big questions regarding our employer. The answers here aren’t always clear and sometimes they’re downright counterintuitive. In researching a company, these are some of the questions you should have in the back of your mind, but try not to jump to conclusions—the answers aren’t always right in front of you and sometimes they’ll surprise you. The Big Question:

What do companies do?

The short answer: MAKE MONEY.

This is obvious, but important to remember. Corporations are owned by investors who expect a return on their investment. If a company is not making money, in the long term investors will walk away and invest elsewhere. Here’s a more complete answer: o Make stuff (or provide services)—Employers generally provide goods and

services to consumers. How does it provide that good or service? What does it need to provide that good or service? Does the company rely on a single supplier of a scarce resource? Or does the company produce a relatively obscure product that’s only of use to a handful of customers?

A clear understanding of what the company does and how it does it can be vitally important in developing a strategy in support of an organizing or collective bargaining effort.

o Make money—Different parts of the company can be very different.

Understanding which parts of the company generate the most profits helps us understand how and where we might influence a company. What part of the company is turning the most profit? What parts of the company are losing money or just getting by?

o Make decisions—Who holds the power to make decisions within the

company? Sometimes this is clear—a president or CEO. Sometimes it’s not clear—a bank or absentee investor. Understanding who has the power to make decisions is vital in developing an effective campaign.



o Make plans for the future—Where is the company going to be in six months? Where is the company going to be in 10 years? Corporations, or at least successful ones, aren’t just thinking about making a profit today; they’re positioning themselves to make a profit in the future. Is the company growing or shrinking? What product lines or markets is the company investing in?

Companies are generally much more sensitive in areas where they are planning to grow, so knowing where they are moving can give us a roadmap toward building an effective pressure campaign.

o Live in an environment—In order to operate and generate profit, every

employer must successfully navigate a complex legal, regulatory, and public relations landscape. Understanding this landscape can help us understand some of the company’s actions; using this landscape can provide us with some tools for demanding public accountability from these companies.

Profit Centers

Key Relationships

Growth Plans

Operations

Key Decision Makers

Employer

While you’re researching your company, think about these five core functions of the company: operations (making stuff), profit centers (making money), key decision makers (make decisions), growth plans (make plans for the future), and key relationships (live in an environment). As we work to put together a campaign to win a fair contract it’s important to keep these functions in mind to figure out where and how to pressure the company and to anticipate our employer’s next moves.



II. Some Littler Questions So we know the big questions: What does the company do? How does the company make money? Who is making the decisions? What are the company’s plans for the future? And what is the environment that the company is operating in? These are all big and abstract questions. What follows is a series of smaller questions that can help you get a better understanding of the company, its operations, and its direction. As you go through this section, you’ll probably want to take note of what you’re learning about your company. Many of these questions direct you to sources that can help you find the relevant information. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, take a look at Section III of this manual, “Getting to Know Your Sources.” And as you’re going through this exercise, remember to keep track of where you got your data. Employers change quickly and data becomes outdated. Sometimes you’ll come across contradictory information so you’ll need to remember where you’re getting your information.1 This can help you in coming up with the most accurate information possible and help protect you from any slander or libel accusations related to your research. 1 Introduction

1.1 Basic Information List the target’s complete name, address, website, phone number and fax number. If the target is a subsidiary of a larger corporation, provide the same information for that corporation as well. Also, state the company’s ownership and incorporation structure. List any public exchanges the company is traded on and the stock’s ticker symbol.

1 For ease of reading, I suggest footnote citations, but anyway you can note your sources is

acceptable.



All of this information can be found in the company’s 10-K report, from www.hoovers.com, BusinessWeek’s Company Insight Center http://investing.businessweek.com/research/company/overview/overview.asp, and in virtually every case on the company’s own web site.

1.2 Company History Provide a brief history of the company. Be sure to include where, when and how it was started and any recent or major mergers or acquisitions. This information can usually be found on the company’s web site but this should be supplemented by other sources. Remember that the company gets to write its own website and annual reports; this often means that the more ‘checkered’ portions of the company’s history may be omitted or deleted. If the company is particularly large or has been particularly influential someone may have written a book length history of the company. If so, try to track down a copy of that book. If the company was involved in a significant scandal there might be some reference to that in a company overview on Hoovers or another corporate database. For a list of corporate databases check out the ‘Getting to Know Your Sources’ section of this manual. Often, the most valuable historical information has happened in the company’s recent history. You can find information on the company’s recent history by searching through old news articles at news.google.com (instructions on using Google News effectively are available in the ‘Know Your Sources’ section of this manual). 2 Operations

2.1 Business Segments For the purposes of managing and reporting diverse operations, most companies divide up their business into segments- usually along the lines of products, customers, or functions. Sometimes these segments are very similar, for

Employer

Public Sector

Employer

Private Sector

Employer

For Profit Not-For-Profit

Publicly Held Privately Held

Publicly Held,

Incorporated in the US

Publicly Held, Incorporated

Outside the US Privately Held,

Incorporated in the US

Privately Held, Incorporated

Outside the US



instance tire companies will report commercial and passenger tire segments separately. Other companies with more diverse product portfolios might lump several products into a single segment. Defining the company’s business segments is important because it gives us an idea of how the company manages itself and how command and authority structures work within the organization. It also can give us an idea of where the company is making money and what its growth plan might look like. This information can be available in a few different places. For publicly traded companies, it will appear in the company’s 10K or annual report. Also, check out the company’s web site for any references to segments, divisions, or business units. If the company’s business segments are not explicitly laid out you may want to look at how its managerial responsibilities are divided up. Often companies will have a manager, vice president or president responsible for each segment or division.

2.2 Products and Services In this section, define what it is the company actually does. What does it make or what services does it provide. If the company has several diverse segments, be sure to provide this information for each segment. Also, if this company has a special or unique product, be sure to mention that. This information is usually available on the company’s web site, in its annual report, and on its 10K.

2.2.1 Customers Who are the target company’s customers? Are they individual consumers or is the company supplying institutional customers? This is often the most difficult information to find. Sometimes the company will brag about its high profile customers on its website or in its annual report. Other times you may need to talk to our members or contacts in the company’s shipping department to find out where the product is really going. In some industries, companies will issue press releases to announce new contracts with key customers. In thinking about customers, be sure to think about both institutional customers and end use customers. For instance, a tire company will sell tires to auto manufacturers and major retail tire distributors. In that case it is important to think about both the tire distribution network and the tire buying public.

2.2.2 Suppliers What materials does the target company need and where does it get them? Pinning this down can be difficult as well, but it may be available in the same locations- company reports, websites, or press releases. If the information isn’t readily available a look at the raw materials markets may be useful. Read about the production process and what goes into the finished product, and then look into the markets for those commodities.



Most commodities are traded on regional exchanges so you can try to look for information on those markets by searching through a search engine. A great source for information on mineral commodities is the US Geological Survey http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/

2.3 Facilities Provide a list of all of the company’s facilities with a description of what is done at each facility and the number of people employed there. If the list is too long, just provide a brief description of the company’s facilities and add a complete list in an appendix. A list of facilities and information on unionization at each location can be provided by USW staff from the AFL-CIO’s UNICOR database, but absent this type of research assistance you may want to look on the company’s web site, annual report, or 10K report for this information.

2.4 Workforce How many people does the company employ? What is the general demographic and what is the labor market like for this type of work? Are the company’s employee’s members of a labor organization? If so which one(s)? Are any of the employees represented by the USW? Do the Steelworkers have any history of running coordinated campaigns against this employer? Have any of the locals been through a Building Power class? Who in the organization might have some knowledge of the company? The total number of employees will be available on a Hoovers report and often on the company’s website or annual report as well. Information on unionization can be obtained from a UNICOR output, but be advised that this information is often inaccurate. If there is USW representation at the company, be in contact with USW Strategic Campaigns staff for information on the union’s relationship with the company. 3 Industry Overview Provide a brief description of the industry(s) in which the company operates. Who are the major competitors, what are the major trends? Are there any publications that follow the industry closely? What market forces are impacting this industry? Some of this information is available in a Hoovers report. Other information on trends will be available in the financial press- The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/us), the Financial Times (www.ft.com), Forbes (www.forbes.com), and Fortune (www.fortune.com). The industry press can also be a great source, but remember it’s easy to get buried in minutia if you don’t know what the big trends are.



4 Financials A company’s financial statements can give us an idea of how the company is doing and where it is going. Looking at the company’s numbers can give us an idea of whether or not the narrative the company is telling in its 10K and annual report is accurate. While we might find some interesting insights, the information here won’t be enough to find the next Enron, so don’t get too caught up in this section. Provide copies of the company’s Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and Key Ratios in the Appendices of this report. This information is available in several different locations but probably the easiest place to look is the Yahoo! Finance website (finance.yahoo.com). *Important note- when doing financial analysis, make sure that all of your data comes from the same sources. Some different sites will report data-especially ratios- slightly differently. Using the same source for your whole analysis can eliminate some of this confusion.

4.1 Brief analysis of company’s financial position Provide brief reviews of the company’s balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, and key financial ratios over the past three years. For instructions on reading financial statements see the attached Primer on Financial Analysis.

4.2 Segment Analysis This section should tell us where the company is making its money. Break down the company’s analysis in terms of sales and in terms of profits. Where are the sales highest? Where are the profit margins the highest? The information on this will come from the ‘Segment Reporting’ section of the company’s annual report. If appropriate, you might want to create pie charts to show the segment breakdowns. Remember that the Profit Centers aren’t always the segments with the highest income, or even necessarily the highest profits, margins are also important here. For instance, imagine Company ABC: Company ABC makes widgets and gadgets. Widgets account for 80% of sales and gadgets account for 20% of sales. But Widgets only account for 60% of profits and gadgets account for a full 40% of profits.



Company ABC's Profits

Widgets

60%

Gadgets

40%

Company ABC's Sales

Widgets

80%

Gadgets

20%

Sure widgets are accounting for a much higher percentage of the Company ABC’s sales, and even a larger percentage of the Company ABC’s profits but the profit margins on Gadgets are so high, this segment simply can’t be ignored. We can generate much more leverage if we can impact this high profit margin segment of the company. This does not mean, however, that we’re looking for the segment with the highest profit margin. If a segment accounts for 3% of the company’s sales and 10% of the company’s profits it probably has an incredibly high profit margin. But still, this segment is too small to really matter for the company right now. 5 Command and Control The question here is who is really in control of the company. Often it’s not the plant management and it’s not even the person who sits across from you at the bargaining table. Each company is structured differently so there’s no cookie cutter approach to figure out who is calling the shots. This really requires getting a ‘feel’ for the internal politics of the company but a few rules of thumb can be helpful:

• If any shareholder holds more than 10% of the outstanding shares, that individual (or institution) likely has some significant influence. If a shareholder holds more than 30%, that individual is almost certainly a ‘key decision maker.”

• If the company’s founder, or a daughter or son of the founder is still involved with the company, take a look at that individual. She might have influence that goes beyond her title.

• CEOs who have been around for a long time tend to stay in power because they’re running the show. If there’s high turnover in the company’s top management position, that is a good indicator that the Board of Directors has a lot of influence.

• If a class of the company’s stock has disproportionate voting power that’s a sure sign that the owners of those shares have a good deal of influence.



Researching each top manager and director can be incredibly time consuming. Don’t get too bogged down in this portion of the research, especially in the initial stages of the project.

5.1 Management 5.1.1 Top Management

Provide biographies of some of the company’s top managers. Pay special attention to any other companies the manager is involved with and any corporate boards the manager sits on. Major scandals, non profit boards, and political activity is all fair game here. Also, take note of each manager’s ownership stake in the company (available in the Proxy statement for publicly traded companies). Biographies (and sometimes photographs) are often available in the ‘press’ section of the company’s website. There are several great resources with encyclopedic data on corporate officers. You might want to check out Forbes’ People Tracker http://www.forbes.com/cms/template/peopletracker/index.jhtml or Business Week’s company insight center http://investing.businessweek.com/research/company/overview/overview.asp. If you’re serious about looking into these managers, you might want to search their name on a Google news search or in another database to see if that reveals any interesting news stories. CorpWatch (www.corpwatch.org) aggregates hundreds of news stories with in depth dirt on companies and their executives. Try searching some top executives through that site’s search function. Also, the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) runs a database of political contributions going back several years at www.opensecrets.org.

5.1.2 Directors and Biographies Provide similar research on each member of the board of directors.

5.1.3 Major Shareholders A list of all individuals and institutions holding more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the company is available in the Proxy report. Provide a list of these major shareholders with some background information on each.

5.2 Business Strategies Provide a brief overview of the major points of the company’s business strategy. Major strategy points often appear in the company’s annual report, quarterly earnings reports, and 10K report. Another great source of information on a company’s strategy is the transcripts of investor conference calls. In addition to what executives reveal in their presentations, investors and analysts often ask interesting (and sometimes pointed) questions that prod the company to reveal more than it otherwise would.



Corporate strategy is much more difficult to uncover for privately held companies. In fact, many companies are choosing to go (or stay) private just to keep this type of information secret. If you’re researching a privately held company you might want to read what analysts are saying about the industry for hints about where your target company is going. 6 Outside Stakeholders Corporations do not exist in a vacuum; even corporations that try to keep a low profile have to deal with a myriad of state, local, and federal regulatory agencies. From local zoning boards to the Environmental Protection Agency, these companies have to walk a political tightrope to operate. By understanding this political and regulatory landscape, unions can generate leverage by getting involved with the regulatory functions that oversee the company’s operations. It’s also important to remember that we are not the only ones who are impacted by the company’s actions. Pollution can wreak havoc on local communities, poisoning drinking water and contaminating soil; poor employment practices impact families and communities, not just workers. Taking a look at how the company is impacting its community can help us in identifying potential allies.

6.1 Legal Is the target company named in any pending lawsuits? How about subsidiaries or executives? Has the company been party to a significant lawsuit in the recent past? Major legal proceedings will be covered in the press, while information on smaller cases may only be available by searching for the Judges’ opinion. The bests services for this are only available through subscription, but if you can’t find anybody to run a search for you try checking out the Legal Information Institute (LII) run by Cornell University’s law school. That website is www.law.cornell.edu

6.2 Regulatory What are the regulatory agencies with oversight over this company? Does this company rely on obtaining permits from RCRA in order to operate? Which government agency has jurisdiction over health and safety issues at the companies facilities (it could more than one!). Information on environmental violations is available from the EPA at http://63.160.3.204/echo/index.html . A more thorough introduction to the ECHO database appears in the Sources section of this manual. Remember though, that this database can only give you information on self reported violations. If you suspect that the numbers the company is giving to the EPA are inaccurate you’ll probably have to do soil or water testing yourself. If the company you’re targeting is growing, it’ll need to obtain permits from state and local agencies to start new operations or expand existing facilities. There is



usually a public comment period and these public hearings are a great place to raise the union’s concerns. Unfortunately there is no central database for these, and public comment periods are typically relatively short (a couple weeks). If you know the company is growing run an internet search for “public comments” or “public hearings” or “permits.”

6.3 Civil Society What are the known issues that might impact the surrounding community? Are any activist organizations currently campaigning against the target company? It’s important to know who these groups are and what their goals are even if the union is not interested in getting involved in those issues or support them openly. If there is a current campaign by an organization or community group that’s worth its salt, you should be able to find at least something out about it by searching through local newspapers. You may also want to see what comes up through general searches on a search engine or digging through relevant Indymedia sites (www.indymedia.org) 7 Conclusions The conclusion is your chance to sum up everything that appears in the rest of the report and let us know what it all means. Draw connections between different research questions and give us an idea of where this company is going. Be sure to put it all in the context of an analysis of the company’s profit centers, decision makers, growth plans, and key relationships.



Getting Familiar with Your Source This section is an introduction to several of the sources you’ll be using to start to find information on your target company. Over the next several pages, we’ll walk through some basic financial reports and other standard documents. While these documents will provide a good starting point, you’ll have to do considerably more digging to get a real solid understanding of your target company. No two companies are the same, so there’s no cookie cutter approach to finding important information on an employer. Be creative, search the internet, your public library, the county court houses, anywhere you think you might find some relevant information. If you happen to find a really great source of data on corporations, be sure to share that with other researchers too! Also, keep in mind that not every source is available for every employer. For example, non-profit and public sector (government) employers do not file the same type of regulatory reports as for-profit corporations. And because they are not required to file reports with most government agencies, privately held corporations are notoriously difficult to find information on. But regardless of the employer or the sector there is valuable information to be learned through researching your company. If you’re coming up short on information try using basic search engines and news archives to find some leads.

SEC Filings If the company you’re researching is publicly traded, you’ll find its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the company website. These documents are usually filed under the ‘investor relations’ or ‘financial information’ sections of the web site.

The two most important SEC filings to look at are the company’s 10-K report and Proxy (Def-14A) Statement. The 10-K is an annual report required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that gives a comprehensive summary of a company’s performance. It provides information on the company’s history, organizational structure, subsidiaries and an audited financial statement. While it’s important to remember that this report is written by the company, it is carefully monitored by regulatory watchdogs, so it’s pretty difficult for companies to embellish too much.



A Proxy statement is an invitation to the company’s annual shareholders meeting and explanation of matters that will be put up for a vote at the meeting. The Proxy statement also includes a lot of the same information as the company’s 10-K report. Additionally, the report provides names, ages and biographies of directors and top executives as well as their salaries and other compensation (benefits, stock options, flights in the company jet) and their holdings in the company. Probably the most interesting information in the Proxy is its disclosure of beneficial shareholders; the company is required to disclose the name and holdings of every shareholder that holds more than 5% of the company. SEDAR In Canada, corporate regulatory filings are available online at www.sedar.com. SEDAR is the system that catalogs filings that are required by the Canadian government for publicly traded companies. Company Information Databases There are some great databases with encyclopedic information on major companies. The depth of the information and the number of companies covered varies drastically from database to database but the amount of information available is incredibly broad. If nothing else, these databases allow us to get a quick snapshot of our target company and other industry players.

o The Thomas Register http://www.thomasnet.com/ o Business Week’s Company Insight Center-

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/company/overview/overview.asp

o Forbes- www.forbes.com

o Google Finance- finance.google.com o Yahoo Finance- finance.yahoo.com o Hoovers- www.hoovers.com



Industry Publications In addition to web-sites and sources specific to your employer, also be sure to check out any industry journals and industry specific web sites you can find. These sites can provide a wealth of information on the industry and market conditions. Government Sources Websites of various regulatory agencies can be helpful in finding out which laws the company has been caught breaking. This information can be useful in working with allies and telling your story to the community. A good starting point for US employers is the US Government Portal www.firstgov.gov. For Canadian employers or worksites in Canada, check http://canada.gc.ca. For specific information on labor, employment, health and safety, and environmental compliance check out: In the US

• Department of Labor--www.dol.gov • National Labor Relations Board--www.nlrb.gov

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration--www.osha.gov • The EPA’s Enforcement & Compliance History Online Database--

www.epa-echo.gov/echo/ In Canada:

• Human Resources Development—Information on federal labor laws, employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan--www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca

• Statistics Canada—www.statcan.ca

Also, check out websites of state or provincial regulatory agencies for information on the company’s compliance with state laws.



Company Web Site A great source of information on a company is its own website. Unfortunately there is no standardized format for these sites so you’ll have to spend some time poking around. Here’s a short list of some of the information that often appears on a company’s website:

o Products o Facility Locations o Executive

biographies o Major customers o News Releases

(Very Valuable) o Corporate

Structure o Industry

Information o SEC filings o ‘Corporate

Citizenship’ information/Code of Conduct

o Major Suppliers Non-Profit Employers In researching non-profit employers, a great resource is the organization’s IRS 990 form. The 990 form is the annual financial filing submitted by non-profits to the IRS reporting their yearly financial activity. 990 forms can be obtained online for free at www.guidestar.org. Buzz on the Shop Floor In addition to print and web based resources, union members can provide a wealth of information on the company and its operations. Members in shipping and receiving departments can usually name most of a facility’s top customers and suppliers; members in on-site warehouses can provide some information on inventory and stockpiling. It is important to carefully document all reports, but be sure not to disclose information in a way that could compromise the confidentiality of the member who provided the information.



Wikipedia A new, emerging source of information online is Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org). Using what is known as ‘Wiki’ software, the site is a giant compilation of user generated encyclopedic information on almost 2 million topics. The interface allows users to search topics and quickly jump from article to article by simply clicking on a wikipedia hyperlink. Wikipedia can be an incredibly valuable tool, but it is also important to remember that all of this content is user generated. Responsible users will cite their sources. Check their sources and do not use any information from wikipedia on publicly distributed documents. If you find something interesting that you want to use be sure to confirm the information and find another source that you can cite. Crocodyl Crocodyl is an online collaborative corporate research site. Similar to Wikipedia, Crocodyl is open source and user driven. But this site is administered by activists from CorpWatch, the Center for Corporate Policy, and the Corporate Research Policy to help campaigners share strategic research on corporations.



Google Most internet users visit google or some other search engine several times a day, but very few are familiar with their search engines’ capabilities. Below is a primer from www.googleguide.com on the search options and commands that can help weed out unwanted results and get you quickly to the information you’re looking for.

Basic Examples

This Search Finds Pages Containing...

biking Italy the words biking and Italy

recycle steel OR iron information on recycling steel or recycling iron

"I have a dream" the exact phrase I have a dream

salsa –dance the word salsa but NOT the word dance

Louis +I France information about Louis the First (I), weeding out other kings of

France

castle ~glossary glossaries about castles, as well as dictonaries, lists of terms,

terminology, etc.

fortune-telling all forms of the term, whether spelled as a single word, a phrase,

or hyphenated

define:imbroglio definitions of the word imbroglio from the Web

Restrict Search

Operators Meaning Type Into Search Box (& Results)

site: Search only one

website or domain.

Halloween site:www.census.gov

(Search for information on Halloween gathered by the

US Census Bureau.)

[#]..[#] Search within a

range of numbers.

Dave Barry pirate 2002..2006

(Search for Dave Barry articles mentioning pirates

written in these years.)

filetype: (or ext:)

Find documents of

the specified type. Form 1098-T IRS filetype:pdf (Find the US tax form 1098-T in PDF format.)

link:

Find linked pages,

i.e., show pages that

point to the URL.

link:warriorlibrarian.com

(Find pages that link to Warrior Librarian's website.)

Specialized Information Queries


book

(or books) Search full-text of books.

book Ender's Game

(Show book-related information.

Note: No colon needed after book.)

define, what is,

what are Show a definition for a

word or phrase. define monopsony, what is podcast

(Show a definition for the words



monopsony and podcast. Note: No colon

after define, what is, or what are.)

define:

Provide definitions for

words, phrases, and

acronyms from the Web.

define:kerning

(Find definitions for kerning from the

Web.)

phonebook: Show all phonebook

listings.

phonebook: Disney CA

(Search for Disney's phone numbers in

California - CA.)

rphonebook: Show residential

phonebook listings.

rphonebook: bill jones NY

(Search for the phone number of every

Bill Jones in New York State - NY.)

movie: Find reviews and

showtimes.

movie: traffic

(Search for information about this movie,

including reviews, showtimes, etc.)

stocks: Given ticker symbols,

show stock information stocks: goog

(Find Google's current stock price.)

Alternative Query Types


cache:

Display Google's

cached version of a

web page.

cache:www.irs.gov

(Show Google's cached version of the US Internal

Revenue Service home page.)

info: (or id:)

Find info about a

page. info:www.theonion.com

(Find information about The Onion website.)

related:

List web pages that

are similar or related

to the URL.

related:www.healthfinder.gov

(Find websites related to the Healthfinder website.)

Restrict Search to Sites where Query Words Appear


allinanchor:

All query words must

appear in anchor text of

links to the page.

allinanchor:useful parenting sites

(Search for pages that are called useful

parenting sites by others.)

inanchor:

Terms must appear in

anchor text of links to the

page.

restaurants Portland inanchor:kid-friendly

(Search for pages on Portland restaurants for

which links to the page say they are "kid

friendly.")

allintext:


appear the in text of the

page.

allintext:ingredients cilantro chicken lime

(Search for recipes with these three

ingredients.)

intext: The terms must appear in

the text of the page. Dan Shugar intext:Powerlight (Find pages mentioning Dan Shugar where his



company, Powerlight, is included in the text

of the page, i.e., less likely to be from the

corporate website.)

allintitle:


appear in the title of the

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Other Valuable Sources Dirt Diggers Digest- Philip Mattera from Good Jobs First! a labor research consulting group, writes a monthly newsletter for corporate researchers called the “Dirt Diggers Digest.” Each month, the digest profiles a few of the newest sources for information on the web. Phil has complied an index of all of the sources he’s written about online at http://www.corp-research.org/dirt_diggers_index.htm www.theyrule.net – This site uses a relatively outdated database of corporate directors to show links between major publicly traded companies. It’s really great for visualizing connections but not great for much else. www.opensecrets.org – An online database of all reportable campaign contributions. The interface allows you to search by donor and by candidate. Newer information includes information on PAC contributions and spending. The Wayback Machine- www.internetarchive.org The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine provides periodic snapshots of virtually every site on the internet. Sometimes companies will inadvertently publish embarrassing information on their web sites and later try to change their stories. Other times whistleblowers are bullied into taking scandalous information off their web sites with threats of law suits and other reprisal.2 With internet archiving removed data is never really gone. If you suspect that information on a web site has been changed or removed take a look at it through the way back machine. Wikipedia A new, emerging source of information online is Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org). Using what is known as ‘Wiki’ software, the site is a giant compilation of user generated encyclopedic information on almost 2 million topics. The interface allows users to search topics and quickly jump from article to article by simply clicking on a wikipedia hyperlink. Wikipedia can be an incredibly valuable tool, but it is also important to remember that all of this content is user generated. Responsible users will cite their sources. Check their sources and do not use any information from wikipedia on publicly distributed documents. If you find something interesting that you want to use be sure to confirm the information and find another source that you can cite. CorpWatch- http://www.corpwatch.org CorpWatch brings original research together with articles from the corporate press to provide one of the most extensive libraries of corporate ‘dirt’ on the

2 In this case, though, be careful. If a research isn’t prepared to stand behind her research do you want to

use her as a source?



internet. CorpWatch researchers follow entire industries as well as individual corporations to provide an incredible and extensive research.



IV. Introduction to Financial Statements Adapted from www.morningstar.com Introduction Although the words "financial statements" and "accounting" send cold shivers down many people's backs, this is the language of business, a language investors need to know before buying stocks. The beauty is you don't need to be a CPA to understand the basics of the three most fundamental and important financial statements: the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. All three of these statements are found in a firm's annual report, 10-K, and 10-Q filings. They can also be found quickly online at finance.google.com or finance.yahoo.com.



The Income Statement What is it and why do I care? The income statement tells you how much money a company has brought in (its revenues), how much it has spent (its expenses), and the difference between the two (its profit). The income statement shows a company's revenues and expenses over a specific time frame such as three months or a year. This statement contains the information you'll most often see mentioned in the press or in financial reports--figures such as total revenue, net income, or earnings per share. The income statement answers the question, "How well is the company's business performing?" Or in simpler terms, "Is it making money?" A firm must be able to bring in more money than it spends or it won't be in business for very long. Firms with low expenses relative to revenues--and thus, high profits relative to revenues--are particularly desirable for investment because a bigger piece of each dollar the company brings in directly benefits you as a shareholder. Revenues, Expenses, and Profit Each of the three main elements of the income statement is described below. • Revenues. The revenue section is typically the simplest part of the income

statement. Often, there is just a single number that represents all the money a company brought in during a specific time period, although big companies sometimes break down revenues in ways that provide more information (e.g., segregated by geographic location or business segment). Revenues are also commonly known as sales.

• Expenses. Although there are many types of expenses, the two most common are the cost of sales and SG&A (selling, general, and administrative) expenses. Cost of sales, which is also called cost of goods sold, is the expense most directly involved in creating revenue. For example, Gap GPS may pay $10 to make a shirt, which it sells for $15. When it is sold, the cost of sales for that shirt would be $10--what it cost Gap to produce the shirt for sale. Selling, general, and administrative expenses are also commonly known as operating expenses. This category includes most other costs in running a business, including marketing, management salaries, and technology expenses.

• Profits. In its simplest form, profit is equal to total revenues minus total expenses. However, there are several commonly used profit subcategories investors should be aware of. Gross profit is calculated as revenues minus cost of sales. It basically shows how much money is left over to pay for operating expenses (and hopefully provide profit to stockholders) after a sale is made. Using our example of the Gap shirt before, the gross profit from the sale of the shirt would have been $5 ($15 sales price - $10 cost of sales = $5 gross profit). Operating profit is equal to revenues minus the cost of sales and SG&A. This number represents the profit a company made from its actual operations, and excludes certain expenses and revenues that may not be related to its central operations. Net income generally represents the company's profit after all expenses, including financial expenses, have been paid. This number is often called the "bottom line" and is generally the figure people refer to when they use the word "profit" or "earnings."



Income Statement for US Steel from Yahoo! Finance

View: Annual Data | All numbers in thousands

PERIOD ENDING 31-Dec-06 31-Dec-05 31-Dec-04

Total Revenue 15,715,000 14,039,000 14,108,000

Cost of Revenue 12,968,000 11,601,000 11,407,000

Gross Profit 2,747,000 2,438,000 2,701,000

Operating Expenses

Research Development - - -

Selling General and Administrative 604,000 684,000 739,000

Non Recurring (13,000) (51,000) -

Others 441,000 366,000 382,000

Total Operating Expenses - - -

Operating Income or Loss

1,715,000 1,439,000 1,580,000

Income from Continuing Operations

Total Other Income/Expenses Net 107,000 (40,000) -

Earnings Before Interest And Taxes 1,879,000 1,399,000 1,580,000

Interest Expense 156,000 87,000 119,000

Income Before Tax 1,723,000 1,312,000 1,461,000

Income Tax Expense 324,000 365,000 351,000

Minority Interest (25,000) (37,000) (33,000)

Net Income From Continuing Ops 1,374,000 910,000 1,077,000

Non-recurring Events

Discontinued Operations - - -

Extraordinary Items - - -

Effect Of Accounting Changes - - 14,000

Other Items - - -

Net Income

Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments

1,374,000 910,000 1,091,000

Net Income Applicable To Common Shares (8,000) (18,000) (18,000)



The Balance Sheet What is it and why do I care? The balance sheet, also known as the statement of financial condition, basically tells you how much a company owns (its assets), and how much it owes (its liabilities). The difference between what it owns and what it owes is its equity, also commonly called "net assets," "stockholder's equity," or "net worth." The balance sheet provides investors with a snapshot of a company's health as of the date provided on the financial statement. Generally, if a company has lots of assets relative to liabilities, it's in good shape. Conversely, just as you would be cautious loaning money to a friend who is burdened with large debts, a company with a large amount of liabilities relative to assets should be scrutinized more carefully. Assets, Liabilities, and Equity Each of the three primary elements of the balance sheet is described below.

• Assets. There are two main types of assets: current assets and noncurrent assets. Within these two categories, there are numerous subcategories, many of which will be explained in Lesson 302. Current assets are likely to be used up or converted into cash within one business cycle--usually defined as one year. For example, the groceries at your local supermarket would be classified as current assets because apples and bananas should be sold within the next year. Noncurrent assets are defined by our left-brained accountant friends as, you guessed it, anything not classified as a current asset. For example, the refrigerators at your supermarket would be classified as noncurrent assets because it's unlikely they will be "used up" or converted to cash within a year.

• Liabilities. Similar to assets, there are two main categories of liabilities: current liabilities and noncurrent liabilities. Current liabilities are obligations the firm must pay within a year. For example, your supermarket may have bought and received $1,000 worth of eggs from a local farm but won't pay for them until next month. Noncurrent liabilities are the flip side of noncurrent assets. These liabilities represent money the company owes one year or more in the future. For example, the grocer may borrow $1 million from a bank for a new store, which it must pay back in five years.

• Equity. Equity represents the part of the company that is owned by shareholders; thus, it's commonly referred to as shareholder's equity. As described above, equity is equal to total assets minus total liabilities. Although there are several categories within equity, the two biggest are paid-in capital and retained earnings. Paid-in capital is the amount of money shareholders paid for their shares when the stock was first offered to the public. It basically represents how much money the firm received when it sold its shares. Retained earnings represent the total profits the company has earned since it began, minus whatever has been paid to shareholders as dividends. Since this is a cumulative number, if a company has lost money over time, retained earnings can be negative and would be renamed "accumulated deficit."



Balance Sheet for US Steel from Yahoo! Finance

View: Annual Data All numbers in thousands


Assets

Current Assets

Cash And Cash Equivalents 1,422,000 1,479,000 1,037,000

Short Term Investments - - -

Net Receivables 2,161,000 1,873,000 1,993,000

Inventory 1,604,000 1,466,000 1,197,000

Other Current Assets 9,000 13,000 16,000

Total Current Assets 5,196,000 4,831,000 4,243,000

Long Term Investments 336,000 303,000 302,000

Property Plant and Equipment 4,429,000 4,015,000 3,627,000

Goodwill - - -

Intangible Assets - 280,000 38,000

Accumulated Amortization - - -

Other Assets 522,000 182,000 2,706,000

Deferred Long Term Asset Charges 103,000 211,000 40,000

Total Assets 10,586,000 9,822,000 10,956,000

Liabilities

Current Liabilities

Accounts Payable 2,554,000 2,385,000 2,445,000

Short/Current Long Term Debt 82,000 249,000 8,000

Other Current Liabilities 66,000 115,000 78,000

Total Current Liabilities 2,702,000 2,749,000 2,531,000

Long Term Debt 943,000 1,363,000 1,363,000

Other Liabilities 2,174,000 2,008,000 2,125,000

Deferred Long Term Liability Charges 364,000 346,000 939,000

Minority Interest 38,000 32,000 28,000

Negative Goodwill - - -

Total Liabilities 6,221,000 6,498,000 6,986,000

Stockholders' Equity

Misc Stocks Options Warrants - - -

Redeemable Preferred Stock - - -

Preferred Stock - 216,000 216,000

Common Stock 124,000 115,000 114,000

Retained Earnings 2,902,000 1,605,000 651,000

Treasury Stock (317,000) (253,000) -

Capital Surplus 2,942,000 3,061,000 3,041,000

Other Stockholder Equity (1,286,000) (1,420,000) (52,000)

Total Stockholder Equity 4,365,000 3,324,000 3,970,000

Net Tangible Assets $4,365,000 $3,044,000 $3,932,000



The Statement of Cash Flows- What is it and why do I care? The statement of cash flows tells you how much cash went into and out of a company during a specific time frame such as a quarter or a year. You may wonder why there's a need for such a statement because it sounds very similar to the income statement, which shows how much revenue came in and how many expenses went out. The difference lies in a complex concept called accrual accounting. Accrual accounting requires companies to record revenues and expenses when transactions occur, not when cash is exchanged. While that explanation seems simple enough, it's a big mess in practice, and the statement of cash flows helps investors sort it out. The statement of cash flows is very important to investors because it shows how much actual cash a company has generated. The income statement, on the other hand, often includes non-cash revenues or expenses, which the statement of cash flows excludes. One of the most important traits you should seek in a potential investment is the firm's ability to generate cash. Many companies have shown profits on the income statement but stumbled later because of insufficient cash flows. A good look at the statement of cash flows for those companies may have warned investors that rocky times were ahead. The Three Elements of the Statement of Cash Flows Because companies can generate and use cash in several different ways, the statement of cash flows is separated into three sections: cash flows from operating activities, from investing activities, and from financing activities.

• The cash flows from operating activities section shows how much cash the company generated from its core business, as opposed to peripheral activities such as investing or borrowing. Investors should look closely at how much cash a firm generates from its operating activities because it paints the best picture of how well the business is producing cash that will ultimately benefit shareholders.

• The cash flows from investing activities section shows the amount of cash firms spent on investments. Investments are usually classified as either capital expenditures--money spent on items such as new equipment or anything else needed to keep the business running--or monetary investments such as the purchase or sale of money market funds.

• The cash flows from financing activities section includes any activities involved in transactions with the company's owners or debtors. For example, cash proceeds from new debt, or dividends paid to investors would be found in this section.

• Free cash flow is a term you will become very familiar with over the course of these workbooks. In simple terms, it represents the amount of excess cash a company generated, which can be used to enrich shareholders or invest in new opportunities for the business without hurting the existing operations; thus, it's considered "free." Although there are many methods of determining free cash flow, the most common method is taking the net cash flows provided by operating activities and subtracting capital expenditures (as found in the "cash flows from investing activities" section). Cash from Operations - Capital Expenditures = Free Cash Flow



Cash Flow for US Steel from Yahoo! Finance

View: Annual Data All numbers in thousands


Net Income 1,374,000 910,000 1,091,000

Operating Activities, Cash Flows Provided By or Used In

Depreciation 441,000 366,000 382,000

Adjustments To Net Income (206,000) (102,000) 97,000

Changes In Accounts Receivables (93,000) 165,000 (550,000)

Changes In Liabilities 274,000 50,000 311,000

Changes In Inventories (109,000) (161,000) 87,000

Changes In Other Operating Activities 5,000 (10,000) (18,000)

Total Cash Flow From Operating Activities

1,686,000 1,218,000 1,400,000

Investing Activities, Cash Flows Provided By or Used In

Capital Expenditures (612,000) (741,000) (579,000)

Investments (4,000) 4,000 (1,000)

Other Cashflows from Investing Activities 26,000 29,000 96,000

Total Cash Flows From Investing Activities

(590,000) (708,000) (484,000)

Financing Activities, Cash Flows Provided By or Used In

Dividends Paid (95,000) (93,000) (66,000)

Sale Purchase of Stock (409,000) (226,000) 361,000

Net Borrowings (607,000) 221,000 (571,000)

Other Cash Flows from Financing Activities (44,000) 37,000 73,000

Total Cash Flows From Financing Activities

(1,155,000) (61,000) (203,000)

Effect Of Exchange Rate Changes 2,000 (7,000) 8,000

Change In Cash and Cash Equivalents ($57,000) $442,000 $721,000

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