Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Financial information

Financial Segment Data for Multinationals

Students in MGT4880 are writing papers about crises faced by multinational companies. As part of this assignment they need to collect data on the geographical and business segments of their companies over the the time before, during, and after the crisis event. The best database to use for these revenue statistics is ThomsonOne.  Students should search for their company and then use the “Fundamentals” tab (at the top of the screen).  The Reuters Fundamentals cover multiple years with data that can be downloaded to Excel. Geographical segments often include country-level as well as a regional breakout of revenues.

ThomsonOne also includes historical company filings for international companies that can help students put the financial data in context.

ThomsonOne is available from the Library’s databases page as well as the Subotnick Center.

The Latest Financial Reports for Non-profits

Both Guidestar and the Foundation Center post the IRS 990 forms for non-profits. Non-profits must file with the IRS on the 15th of the 5th month following their fiscal year end, so for December year-end, they file on May 15th. BUT there is a considerable lag in getting the forms online.  Here is what the Foundation Center says about how long it takes for the reports to make it to their website:

In most instances, the time between filing Form 990s and posting them on the Center’s Web site is 5-7 months. We receive the latest Forms 990-PF from the IRS every few weeks and add them to our collection, accessible through our various databases.

However, the total lag time between the end of a foundation’s fiscal year and the point when its IRS filing is publicly available can be anywhere from 12 to 18 months. Foundations have 4 1/2 months to file, and they can request filing extensions. Also, not all foundations end their fiscal year on December 31.

You can see when a foundation usually files its return by looking at “Date Received” stamp on past years’ returns. This filing pattern may help you estimate when a funder’s latest IRS filing will be publicly available online.

So what are your options if the current reports are not online?  First, I’d check the website of  the non-profit you are researching to see if they have posted the 990 form.

You could also make a request in person or in writing. According to IRS disclosure regulations, exempt organizations must make their three most recently filed annual 990 or 990-PF returns and all related supporting documents available for public inspection. Requests made in person must be fulfilled immediately, or within 30 days for a written request, with no charge other than a reasonable fee to cover photocopying and mailing expenses.

 

New Database: Mergent EventsData

We have added Mergent EventsData to our list of databases which gives us access to on-going updated information on stock-splits, mergers, tender offers, partial/full calls, name changes, etc.

We have access to: U.S. Corporate Actions, International Corporate Actions for all regions, U.S. Corporate Dividends, International Corporate Dividends for all regions, U.S. Unit Investment Trust, U.S. Fixed Income, U.S. Municipal Called Bonds, EventsData Portfolio Alerts, U.S. HSD Equity Pricing (20+ Years History), International HSD Equity Pricing (20+ Years History).

FRED Adds IMF Data

This December the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis added a collection of IMF data to its database of U.S. and international economic time series, FRED.  The data includes 399 financial statistics and monetary aggregates including interest rates, exchange rates, and measures of M1, M2, and M3.

Students will like this resource because of its easy to use interface. The data opens in a graph with options to download or view the underlying data or to save the graph as a pdf.

This data from the IMF is not free elsewhere but can be found in Datastream and in the paper copies of the IMF’s International Financial Statistics Yearbook (at REF HG 61 .I57)

New research from Federal Reserve Bank of NY re impact of recession on New York’s school district finances

I thought the following report, new from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, might be of interest:  “The Impact of the Great Recession on School District Finances: Evidence from New York,” Rajashri Chakrabarti and Elizabeth Setren (no. 534, December 2011)
JEL codes: H40, I21, I28

This summary was prepared by the Federal Reserve Bank:
Despite education’s fundamental role in human capital formation and growth, there is no research that examines the effect of the Great Recession (or any other recession) on schools. The authors’ paper begins to fill this gap. Exploiting detailed data on school finance indicators and an analysis of trend shifts, they examine how the Great Recession affected school funding in New York State. While Chakrabarti and Setren find no evidence of effects on either total revenue or expenditure, there were important compositional changes to both. There is strong evidence of substitution of funds on the revenue side–the infusion of funds from the federal stimulus occurred simultaneously with statistically and economically significant cuts in state and local financing, especially the former. On the expenditure side, instructional expenditure was maintained, while other categories such as transportation, student activities, and utilities suffered. Important heterogeneities in experiences are also observed by poverty level, metropolitan area, school district size, and urban status. Affluent districts were hurt the most; the New York City metro area, especially Nassau County, sustained the largest losses in terms of both revenue and expenditure. The authors findings promise to facilitate an understanding of how recessions affect schools and of the role policy can play in mitigating the consequences.
http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr534.html

Report re bankruptcy that might be requested

Several auditing students have asked for help in finding information aboutNew Century Financial Corporation, a subprime lender that filed for bankruptcy in 2007.

There has also been complaints for fraud brought by the SEC (searchable on the SEC site and also CCH Accounting Research Manager) and also some class action securities litigation, found on the Stanford University securities class action website.

A report by  bankruptcy examiner Missal has been requested.  Although these reports are not usually available full-text, the document was unsealed by the Delaware bankruptcy court and posted on the website of the law firm Missal is associated with.  It runs over 500 pages. An explanation of the report is available.