Sources of American Financial Information

This week we will look at some of the financial information that is available on the Internet for one company, Applied Materials. We will see that there are many sources of financial information. We will look at a few of those sources. The sources we will examine are:

Information from the Company

Source: the Investor Relations section on the Applied Materials' web site	http://www.appliedmaterials.com/financial/
Applied Materials management publishes its annual report and interim financial statements on the Internet for anyone to see.
The 1998 Income Statement	http://www.appliedmaterials.com/financial/annual98/p44.htm
The 1998 Balance Sheet	http://www.appliedmaterials.com/financial/annual98/p45.htm
The 1998 Statement of Cash Flows	http://www.appliedmaterials.com/financial/annual98/p47.htm

Information from a Governmental Regulator (the SEC)

Source: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)	http://www.sec.gov
The SEC requires that publicly traded companies file certain types of historical (traditional) financial information. The Income Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Statement of Cash Flows must be given to the SEC at certain times during the year. The SEC makes the information available to all of the public. The annual filings are on the SEC's web site. The link below takes you to the Applied Materials 1998 10-K. This document must be filed every year. It contains the three basic financial statements, the footnotes and other disclosures that are required by federal securities laws.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/6951/0000891618-98-000207.txt

Information from a Financial Services Firm

Source: Applied Material's auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers

http://www.pricewaterhousecoopers.com

This link is an example of the type of advice that a multinational financial services firm (CPAs) may give to a large, multinational client. This message was not written for Applied Materials. It was written for a wide audience. It is available on the Web for anyone to read. It is an introduction to a complex subject.

Applied Materials is one type of company that uses information like this about certain financial transactions. Today every company that manufactures a product looks for ways to lower the cost of getting their product to their customers. If transportation costs are reduced, then net income is increased. This message emphasizes the importance of identifying transportation costs, accurately measuring and lowering them.

http://www.pricewaterhousecoopers.com/extweb/indissue.nsf/DocID/749A377F4F91B5EA852566870068A866

"Transportation Management"

Information from a Search Engine

Source: Yahoo Finance	http://quote.yahoo.com/?u
Yahoo Finance is one of many sites that provide current stock price information to anyone who is interested in a particular company. The stock price activity is transmitted with a relatively short delay. Graphs of the stock price history can be generated, if desired.
Applied Materials statistics	http://quote.yahoo.com/q?s=AMAT&d=t

Information from the Industry

Source: The Semiconductor Industry Association Home Page	http://www.semichips.org/
An association of many companies in one industry may jointly produce a website with resources for members in the industry. The information on these pages is not limited to financial matters.

Summary

There are very many sources of financial information on the Internet today. A few of them are listed above. The quality of the information can vary widely. Some of the information is reliable. Other information is not. Users of the Internet sources of financial information must be selective.

Homework

1.	You can find a stock price quotation of Applied Materials from the company's web site or from Yahoo!Finance. Find any other source on the web for an Applied Materials stock quote. List the URL for your source.
2.	What is the stock price quote that you found? Is it the same as the one listed on the company's web site at http://www.appliedmaterials.com/financial/Stock_Quote_main.html?