Investing & Personal Finance - Investing and Personal Finance - Subject Guides & Electronic Resources at Montgomery County Public Libraries

MCPL's Premium Financial Research Databases

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Read about the differences between public vs. private companies.

	Value Line Financial information about publicly traded companies, plus industry analysis. This resource provides information on stocks, mutual funds, options, and convertibles. Select RESEARCH HUB to access Investment Surveys.
	Morningstar Investment Research Center Financial information about publicly traded companies, company contact information, company profiles, analyst reports, and industry peer comparisons. Provides information on stocks, mutual funds, ETFs (exchange-traded-funds), and return information on various investment indexes, sectors, industries, and fund categories.
	Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage Investment reports on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, plus company profiles and the S&P Outlook. With a new Financial Education section.
	Business & Company Resource Center Company and industry information, including profiles, rankings, histories, brands, and investment reports, plus full text articles from major business and trade periodicals.

Safari Books Online

E-books about investment and personal finance, as well as other business and technical topics. Please note: The titles do not download, you can read them from within your browser. MCPL has a limited number of concurrent users on this product. If you can't get in, clear your browser's Temporary Internet Files, and try again after a while.

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Public vs. Private Company Information

Public companies issue shares of stock that are traded openly on one or more exchange, such as the NASDAQ or NYSE. They must file various forms and documents about their financial performance and governance structure with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Private companies are not traded on any stock exchange, and they generally do not have to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Consequently, finding reliable information on private companies can be quite challenging.

Consider these tips for finding and using information on private companies:

Look for directory listings, company profiles, and news articles using the databases and websites on this guide.
Try to find local news coverage in the areas where the company's headquarters or other facilities are located.
Financials for private companies are often reported as "estimates" and may not be current.
Many private companies have websites with useful information.

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